


woke me up

by theafterimages



Series: frat au [28]
Category: EXO (Band), VIXX
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 08:06:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3602649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theafterimages/pseuds/theafterimages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"They never mentioned this in the brochures."</i> Or, the one where Baekhyun makes a list of things to teach Sanghyuk during the semester.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. part one

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://eveninadream.livejournal.com/5999.html).

Hakyeon may be overprotective to the point of occasionally smothering, but Sanghyuk appreciates knowing he can always count on him. Case in point: Hakyeon and Taekwoon showing up bright and early to help Sanghyuk and his parents move his things to the dorm.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” his mother tells them.

Taekwoon offers her a small smile and slips past them to get started. Hakyeon, meanwhile, settles in to talk. “Any time,” he says brightly, putting an arm around Sanghyuk’s shoulders. “And don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on Sanghyuk at Cartwright.”

“I don’t need you to keep an eye on me,” Sanghyuk objects. He’s not too worried, since Taekwoon and Hakyeon have their own apartment and now that Hakyeon's in the grad program he won’t have time to breathe down Sanghyuk's neck. Probably.

Hakyeon tightens his grip, laughing as Sanghyuk protests. “Go help Taekwoon. I’ll be up in a minute.”

To Sanghyuk’s complete lack of surprise, he ends up loading the car with his dad and Taekwoon, while Hakyeon and his mother keep talking. They’ve always gotten along well. Hongbin had joked once that it was because Hakyeon was Sanghyuk’s second mother, and the title had stuck. “That must have been exhausting,” he hears Hakyeon saying as he and Taekwoon walk back to their car, and he can imagine the unimpressed look Taekwoon is probably giving him in response.

“You and Hongbin have such nice friends,” Sanghyuk's mother says once they’re on the road.

Sanghyuk smiles to himself. “Yeah, they’re okay.”

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk's roommate shows up a little while after his parents leave. Sungjae's quiet at first, and Sanghyuk can feel him continually shooting glances at his back as they both unpack, but before long they start talking.

"I'm from Chicago," Sungjae explains when Sanghyuk asks. "One of my best friends goes here; that's how I found out about it. He kept telling me about the school, and the frat he's in—”

"Which one?" Sanghyuk asks, even though he's pretty sure he already knows the answer.

Sure enough, Sungjae promptly says, "Kappa Tau."

He's starting to feel like he couldn't get away from Kappa Tau if he tried. "That's the one my friends are in, too."

Sungjae grins. "Yeah? Are you going to rush, too?"

"Yeah."

"That'll be awesome!"

It will be, Sanghyuk thinks—rushing with his roommate, being an actual brother instead of just spending time there. Getting to hang out with Baekhyun, maybe. "Have you been to the house before?" he asks Sungjae quickly, to dismiss that thought. Pledging isn't about Baekhyun. He'd wanted to be a Kappa Tau member well before he'd seen Baekhyun for the first time. 

"Not really. I mean, I did when I visited the campus, but not for long. Enough to get a look around and see Donggeun."

"You'll like it," Sanghyuk says.

The upperclassmen are scheduled to return to campus a day after the incoming freshmen, so it’s not until the next evening that they go by Kappa Tau. Sanghyuk meets Sungjae's best friend, Donggeun, and they both make easy additions to Sanghyuk's group of friends. 

On one of the rare occasions that Sungjae and Donggeun aren't joined at the hip, Sanghyuk asks Sungjae about it. “Best friend?” 

Sungjae sighs dramatically. "Okay, so I might have left out the part where we used to go out."

They're having this conversation in Kappa Tau, a house well known for being accepting, but Sanghyuk understands why Sungjae's still watching him closely. He’d be wary, too. “Why did you break up?” Sanghyuk asks, and Sungjae’s shoulders relax.

“He was here, I was there.”

“And now?”

“We’re going to see how it goes,” Sungjae says, looking over at Donggeun yet again.

 

 

 

 

Everyone should be back on campus by now, but that doesn't mean all the brothers are in the house. It's interesting to see who's shown up so far and who hasn't, Sanghyuk decides as he watches people come and go. 

"Baekhyun is out with Chanyeol," Jaehwan tells him after a while, and Sanghyuk quickly looks away from the front door. "In case you were wondering!"

"I wasn't," Sanghyuk says, like he hasn't spent the past month having flashbacks to the heat of Baekhyun's mouth on him or wishing it were Baekhyun's hand on him every time he jerks off. He hasn’t actually seen Baekhyun since the night of his birthday. It wasn’t like they’d traded phone numbers or agreed to do it again or anything, and it wasn’t like Sanghyuk had expected them to. 

"Of course not," Jaehwan says, winking dramatically.

Kyungsoo nudges Jaehwan. "Don't, you'll summon him."

But for all of Kyungsoo's dire warnings, it takes an hour before Sanghyuk hears, “Looking for me?”

He still jumps, but at least this time he doesn’t spill anything. Progress. Especially when Baekhyun just being there, so close and smiling up at him, has Sanghyuk feeling unsteady. 

He's just thankful he'd been alone when Baekhyun had found him so that at least he doesn't have any witnesses. He can only imagine how it would make Jaehwan and Hongbin laugh to see him try to subtly put his drink down. “Should I have been?”

"Ouch," Baekhyun says, laughing. “So then who were you looking for?”

“Just considering my options,” Sanghyuk says, as loftily as he can when his pulse is racing.

“Lucky for you, I can help.” Baekhyun leans against the counter, close enough that they're not quite touching but Sanghyuk can still feel his body heat, then starts pointing people out. “Straight, taken, straight, straight, confused, taken, open relationship but you don’t want to get involved, trust me…” 

The next guy Baekhyun indicates is one Sanghyuk remembers seeing him take upstairs during a few parties last year, always with a third in tow. “Jongin’s amazing, 10/10 would recommend, but he comes with Taemin and you’re not ready for that yet.”

“So what you’re saying is I need to look outside the house,” Sanghyuk summarizes.

“Or…” Baekhyun shifts closer and grins up at him. The way he brushes his hand against Sanghyuk’s has to be deliberate, but knowing that doesn't make it any less effective. “If you want to settle, I might make some time for you.”

Casual, Sanghyuk, he reminds himself, kind of surprised he can think anything over the way his heart is pounding. "I guess," he says, biting back a smile. "Better than nothing."

"I can work with that," Baekhyun decides. "Come on."

Sanghyuk expects him to just head straight into his room, but instead Baekhyun stops just outside it, turning to Sanghyuk with a barely audible, "Hey." Sanghyuk leans in, thinking he's going to say something else, but the next thing Sanghyuk knows Baekhyun nudges him against the wall, then wraps a hand around the back of his neck and tugs him down for a kiss. Like before, he immediately curves his free hand around Sanghyuk's ass; is still quick to coax Sanghyuk's mouth open, lets the kiss turn filthy even though they haven't made it to his room yet; still makes Sanghyuk's head swim in a way he hadn't known anyone could.

When Baekhyun pulls away the first thing he does is ask, “You still haven’t been with anyone else?”

Sanghyuk almost leans back in, but somehow he resists. “How do you know?” he blurts out before he can think better of it.

“I can always tell.” Baekhyun cocks his head, puts on a mask of faux-concern. “It’s not because I set the bar too high, is it? I know no one can measure up, but sometimes you have to settle, Sanghyuk.”

Sanghyuk makes himself scoff. "I'm from a really small town. Like, everyone knows everyone. Hongbin's the only person I know there who's into guys, too."

"So why didn't you hook up with him?"

Just the thought has Sanghyuk laughing. "We tried, a long time ago."

"And?"

And they'd made it through, like, half a kiss before Sanghyuk had opened his eyes and seen Hongbin looking back, at which point they'd broken apart and laughed for a solid two minutes. "He's like my brother. We couldn't do it."

Baekhyun shakes his head. "I guess I'll have to do something about it."

"For great justice?"

"Exactly," Baekhyun says, and kisses him again, one hand scrambling to open the door.

Sanghyuk's never sure how they make it inside without breaking the kiss, but they manage it somehow. "Pants off," Baekhyun says as soon as Sanghyuk's nudged the door shut, already shedding his own clothes.

“You're so bossy,” Sanghyuk chides, but obeys.

“I'm proactive,” Baekhyun debates, and pushes him down onto the bed.

Sanghyuk has imagined this happening again—well, more times than he'll ever admit to Baekhyun. But his memory doesn't live up to the reality of Baekhyun's soft lips or the pleased sounds he makes as his hands skim over Sanghyuk's body, like he's relearning him.

Sanghyuk gets so absorbed in just making out with Baekhyun, the slide of Baekhyun’s lips against his, Baekhyun’s hands kneading his ass and Sanghyuk’s hesitantly tracing over Baekhyun's torso, that it almost startles him to realize he’s started grinding down against Baekhyun’s thigh.

Baekhyun nips his way down Sanghyuk's neck, then his chest. Sanghyuk swallows, body tensing, and Baekhyun laughs up at him, changing direction. "I was thinking we should try something new," he says. "And that we should try to make this last more than five minutes."

Given that Sanghyuk honestly isn't sure he even made it to the five-minute mark when Baekhyun blew him, for once he decides not to retort.

It only takes a few strokes of Baekhyun's hand before Sanghyuk is fully hard, arching into it and hoping for more. Sanghyuk isn't sure how this counts as something new, since Baekhyun did give him a handjob in the shower last time, but he's not going to argue. 

This feels better than he remembered, too, is all he has time to think before Baekhyun shifts, lining their cocks up and then wrapping his hand around them both. Sanghyuk moans, stunned by the feel of Baekhyun's cock hot and throbbing against his, Baekhyun's soft fingertips coating them both in slick precome to make the slide smoother, and barely has the presence of mind to respond when Baekhyun catches his open mouth in a quick kiss.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, after Baekhyun's wiped them both off (with Sanghyuk's shirt, of course), Sanghyuk mumbles, "I don't think this was what they meant by learning from our role models." 

"Hey, I'd be a good teacher," Baekhyun says, fingertips trailing absently along Sanghyuk's side. "You'd be honored to learn from me."

"Yeah, sure." Sanghyuk makes the mistake of thinking about the idea, Baekhyun teaching him _everything_ , and he groans, knowing from how Baekhyun looks up at him, his eyebrows winging upwards, that he felt Sanghyuk's cock try valiantly to twitch back to life.

"Do you want me to?" Baekhyun asks, a grin spreading across his face. "Want me to be your sex ed professor?"

"Professor Byun," Sanghyuk says, aiming for mockery and failing miserably.

"I like the sound of that," Baekhyun says with a nod. "Let's do it."

"Seriously?"

"Someone has to." Baekhyun sits up, straddling Sanghyuk's waist. Being pressed against him again is—distracting. "I can give you a semester."

A whole _semester_ , compared to how Sanghyuk had genuinely expected to get one more hookup, tops. Sanghyuk really hopes he doesn't look as stunned as he feels, but judging by Baekhyun's smirk, no such luck. “That... works," he says. Understatement of the year. "There's just one thing."

"Hmm?"

"How many days a week does it have to be? I mean, I’m rushing, I’m taking classes—I don't know if I have a lot of time for you.”

“Maybe I should add gags to the curriculum,” Baekhyun says, tapping his chin as if in thought.

“See, I’m really going to have to think about this," Sanghyuk says, grinning as Baekhyun scowls playfully at him. "What sort of class is this going to be?”

“One designed for your every want." He leans down and kisses him again, and a third time. Baekhyun, Sanghyuk has decided, is unfairly good at kissing. Real people aren't supposed to be that good at it. "And need.”

“Including a chapter on bad porn dialogue?”

“Haven't Wonshik and Jaehwan covered that with you already?”

Sanghyuk laughs and lets Baekhyun nudge him onto his side, so that Baekhyun can press himself along Sanghyuk's back. He wonders briefly about that, since he's the taller one by far, but decides not to question it. It feels kind of nice this way, with Baekhyun's arm draped over his waist. "We watch only the highest quality porn. Award-winning dialogue."

Baekhyun snorts. "Oh, right, forgive me."

"Depends."

"On what?"

"What's next on the list." Not that he can handle anything more right now, given how he's struggling to keep his eyes open. He'd keep going for hours if he could, but it's been such a long day and Baekhyun's so warm against him. He'd kind of rather sleep.

"I'll see what I can do." Baekhyun kisses the back of his neck, and Sanghyuk can hear the smile in his voice when he adds, “Oh, hey, welcome to Cartwright.”

“They never mentioned this in the brochures,” Sanghyuk mumbles, eyes drifting shut as he feels Baekhyun's body vibrate with laughter against his.

 

 

 

 

When Baekhyun wakes up, it takes him a few seconds to place where he is. His all-too-brief break between semesters is over. He's back in his own bed, in his—well, his new room; he has his own now, doesn't have to share with... wait, he was supposed to have breakfast with Jongdae. He's never going to hear the end of it now for bailing on him.

But that's something to think about later, when he doesn't have Sanghyuk beside him, naked and gorgeous. Baekhyun's arm has fallen asleep where Sanghyuk's sprawled on it, but the way his cock's nestled so perfectly against Sanghyuk's ass is more than worth it.

He couldn't have started the semester better if he'd planned it.

Sanghyuk sleeps pretty heavily, if he remembers right, so Baekhyun reaches across him for the notebooks on his desk. He grabs one, and a nearby pen, and when Sanghyuk chooses that moment to roll onto his stomach Baekhyun decides Sanghyuk's back makes for as good a surface as any.

By the time Sanghyuk stirs, Baekhyun has straddled his back and is adding the last line to the paper in front of him. It's already been a productive morning and it's barely started. Kris would be proud—and probably confused as to why anyone would want to do anything but sleep in the morning, but still. "Hold still," he says, squeezing his knees against Sanghyuk's sides to stop him from moving. “I'm making a list."

“Of what?” Sanghyuk asks blearily.

“All the things I want to do to you.”

Sanghyuk pauses, probably trying to remember what Baekhyun's talking about, then cranes his neck so that Baekhyun can see his exaggeratedly shocked look. “I thought you were doing this to help me.”

“You’ll get plenty out of it, trust me," Baekhyun says, lightly pushing Sanghyuk's chin up with the tip of his finger so he can meet him in the middle for a quick kiss.

"Like what?"

"Here." He hands over the notebook, lies down on Sanghyuk's back while Sanghyuk reads. 

“So who knows how you’ll wake me up next time,” Sanghyuk comments.

“Not with anything new. You can’t sleep through part of class.” Baekhyun kisses just behind his ear, then leans forward so he can at least see the side of Sanghyuk’s face. “But do you want that? Waking up with my mouth or hands on you sometime?”

He can feel Sanghyuk shiver, even though his voice stays surprisingly level. “I guess.”

“Hmm.” That’s something to think about. Later. For now he just settles back in, one hand skimming down to grope Sanghyuk’s ass affectionately.

With eerie timing, Sanghyuk chooses that moment to ask, “Should I be worried about the number of things you want to do to my ass?”

“Intrigued,” Baekhyun corrects him, resting his chin on Sanghyuk's shoulder so that he can reread it as well. It's a good list, if he does say so himself. Not too much for Sanghyuk, if Baekhyun eases him into each one right, and more than satisfying for them both.

“So are we starting now?”

“You’ll need time to prepare,” Baekhyun says solemnly. “The anticipation has to build.”

“Right. What was I thinking.” He looks over the list again, then back at Baekhyun, brow furrowed. “What’s—”

“You’ll find out,” Baekhyun assures him, then leans in and kisses him, this time with intent.

"I have—10:15—”

"You'll make it," Baekhyun says lazily, and after another moment Sanghyuk rolls onto his back, dropping the notebook onto the floor, and Baekhyun closes the distance between them. He _loves_ college.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun goes back to sleep after they're done, leaving Sanghyuk to gather his clothes and head out on his own. Because this is his life, he almost immediately bumps into Hongbin, whose eyebrows climb as he takes in the condition Sanghyuk is in.

“I don’t need to watch any more of Wonshik and Jaehwan’s porn,” Sanghyuk tells him dazedly. “I’m living one.”

“Why are you—where’s your _shirt_?” Hongbin demands.

Sanghyuk ignores him. Shirts don’t matter anymore. “He made a list,” he announces, shoving it at Hongbin.

Hongbin yelps and bats it away. “Don’t give me that, it’s probably as dirty as you.”

“It’s everything he wants to do to me,” Sanghyuk says over his protests. “Maybe not even everything. There’s probably more.”

“I don’t need to know any of this!”

“ _What_?” demands another voice at almost exactly the same time.

Sanghyuk jumps and turns in time to watch Hakyeon storm down the hallway. “Why are you always here?!”

“I’m bringing Jaehwan breakfast,” Hakyeon says, brandishing the plastic bag he’s holding, then continues, “though maybe I should just _move back in_ if this is what goes on when I’m not here. And where is your shirt?!”

“Can you take your list, too?” Hongbin asks, picking it up gingerly between two fingers.

“What list?” Hakyeon snatches it before Sanghyuk can. He skims it, eyes widening, and Sanghyuk groans. #8 alone is enough reason for Hakyeon to be the last person he ever, ever wants reading it. “ _Sanghyuk?_ ”

Hongbin frowns, touching Hakyeon's shoulder. “Are you having a heart attack?”

“I MIGHT BE. WHERE’S BAEKHYUN?”

The bathroom door opens and Zitao walks out, a cloud of steam in his wake, clad only in skintight black briefs and rubbing his eyes with his free hand. “Hakyeon, you’re being too loud,” he complains.

“Why can’t you yell at him?” Sanghyuk asks Hakyeon, pointing at Zitao. “He’s not even wearing pants!”

“Lost cause,” Hakyeon says dismissively. Hongbin, meanwhile, stares as Zitao walks over to them and plucks the list from Hakyeon’s hand.

“You’ll like 10, he’s really good at that,” Zitao assures Sanghyuk.

“What about 7?” Sanghyuk asks, just to watch Hakyeon scowl.

“Yeah, that, too! He’s the best.” Zitao hands the list back to him. "Oh, Hongbin!" Hongbin's eyes fly up from where they were focused on Zitao's crotch. Judging by the way he grabs Hongbin’s wrist, lips curling upwards, Zitao definitely noticed. “Want to come work out with us? We’re leaving in a few minutes.”

“Yeah, um, sure.”

Zitao’s smile widens, and he squeezes Hongbin’s hand. “Good.”

Once he’s disappeared into his room, Sanghyuk turns to Hakyeon. “Why don’t you do something about that instead of about me? They’re _both_ going after Hongbin, isn’t that worse?”

“They’re not—we’re just friends!” Hongbin stammers.

“Has Wonshik asked you to model naked yet?” Sanghyuk asks.

Hongbin drops his gaze. “The art department is short on volunteers,” he says, and Sanghyuk groans.

“I’m looking out for you, Sanghyuk," Hakyeon insists. "I want you to have a good year.”

Sanghyuk waves the list at him. “And you don’t think this’ll help?”

Hakyeon scowls even more.

 

 

 

 

Jongdae’s still sulking about breakfast when Baekhyun joins him at lunch. "Oh, now you're showing up for meals."

“I _said_ I’m sorry,” Baekhyun cajoles. "I wasn't expecting Sanghyuk. I'll bring you coffee next time."

"Unless Sanghyuk stays over again?"

"It's not like that'll happen all the time. He has real classes, too." 

"Okay, then—” Jongdae pauses, narrowing his eyes. "Wait, what do you mean, 'too'?"

"Oh, I'm just teaching him a few things," Baekhyun says breezily. "It's my responsibility, as—”

"Don't say 'as his brother', Baekhyun, it's weird."

"I was going to say as a decent human being. That ass has gone 18 years without being tapped. It's a tragedy, Jongdae. Someone has to step up and map out that uncharted territory."

Jongdae snorts. "What are you, the Magellan of asses?"

"My true calling," Baekhyun says dreamily. "I should make business cards."

"Oh, _god_."

 

 

 

 

There's just one little problem, as Baekhyun finds out a few days later.

"One last reminder," Minho says at the end of the Kappa Tau officers' first meeting of the semester. "All potential pledges have to leave the house right after each party ends, and we can't be one-on-one with any of them behind closed doors." He looks pointedly at Baekhyun. "No matter how hot you think any of them are."

"Fuck," Baekhyun says, eyes widening. He'd forgotten about that. "Does anyone even care about that rule?"

"All it takes is one resentful kid who's been cut," Minho says ominously. "You can wait a week, Baekhyun. I don't want anyone taking chances, especially not officers."

Baekhyun groans. He'd had _plans_ for this week. "Fine."

 

 

 

 

Rush Week starts with a visit to the house, where Sanghyuk and a few dozen other freshmen are supposed to talk to every member in the hopes of being invited back for the next event. No matter how much time Sanghyuk's spent in the house before, his stomach's still a bundle of nerves for the first few minutes, as Hongbin, Wonshik and Jaehwan all greet him quickly before moving on to introduce themselves to the other freshmen.

He talks to a few other guys, ones he's seen around but doesn't know, feeling more nervous with each passing minute until Baekhyun approaches. "Mr. Han," Baekhyun says solemnly. "What can you offer the house?"

This is easy, Sanghyuk thinks, the knots in his stomach starting to unfurl already. He could banter with Baekhyun all day. "Well," Sanghyuk says, liking the way Baekhyun's gaze tracks how he brushes a hand down his side, "I have a few assets."

"I might have to review them more... extensively."

Sanghyuk snickers. "Have you been watching porn with Wonshik, too?"

"Don't break character," Baekhyun says sternly, then pauses. "Roleplay's on the list, right?"

"I think so," Sanghyuk says, like he hasn't long since memorized the shape of every single letter.

"Okay, good. As I was saying-”

"We know you want him," says a new voice, and Sanghyuk barely has time to react before Taemin's grabbing his wrist. "Share him with the rest of us, too."

Baekhyun pouts exaggeratedly. "Wait your turn."

"Nope," Taemin says with a grin, pulling Sanghyuk away.

"Brat!" Baekhyun calls after them. The last Sanghyuk sees of him, he’s pulling another rushee aside, smiling up at the guy in a way that doesn’t bother Sanghyuk at all.

Taemin takes Sanghyuk the opposite way, eyeing him appraisingly as they walk. "Do you dance?"

"Not really."

"Do you like dogs?"

"I guess so."

"Anime?"

Sanghyuk brightens. "Yeah. Like what?"

"Like anything." Taemin twines his fingers with Sanghyuk's. They're shorter than Baekhyun's, he can't help but notice. "Come tell Jongin all about it."

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun is pleased when neither he nor Hongbin even need to second Sanghyuk's name to get him through to the next round, or the rounds that follow. Sanghyuk isn't as loud or talkative as some of the rushees, but he knows how to make a good impression.

Baekhyun keeps his distance during the parties, making sure that if their paths do cross they're with a few of their friends. Minho is keeping such a close eye on him that it'd probably make even Hakyeon proud, and Baekhyun doesn't need to deal with his nagging.

Besides, it’s not like Baekhyun is cut off from Sanghyuk entirely.

“See, I knew you could do it,” he says, watching approvingly over Skype as Sanghyuk’s back arches, his hand moving even faster over his cock. 

“Not—my first time—” Sanghyuk pants, head dropping back against the wall, baring his neck. Baekhyun tugs at his own cock, can't help it, though he's careful to keep the touches light. Sanghyuk has more than earned a show of his own as a reward, and there’s no point in giving it to him while he’s too far gone to even look at the camera.

“Can you do something for me?”

“Like come?” Sanghyuk asks with a quick, shaky exhalation that might've been a laugh.

“Like telling me what you want to cross off the list first," Baekhyun offers. "Do you want me to finger you? Or should I eat you out—”

“ _Fuck_.”

Baekhyun watches in satisfaction as Sanghyuk goes rigid, then comes all over his stomach, groaning quietly as he strokes himself through it. It’s not as good as being there with him and making good on his words, but he can wait.

(“Why do you look so smug?” Minho asks warily at the bowling event the next day.

“No reason,” Baekhyun says, smiling even wider.)

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk and Hongbin don't have classes on Fridays, so they drive to Baltimore for the day and meet with Sanghyuk's sister, Sangmi, for lunch and a shopping trip. Sanghyuk had outgrown most of his trousers after yet another growth spurt during the summer, and the last rush week event, a formal dinner with several alumni on the guest list, called for nice clothes, which wasn't something he'd stocked up on.

They both tell her about their first week back, though as soon as Sanghyuk mentions rush week Sangmi cuts him off.

"You're doing something about your hair, right?"

He blinks. He'd gone blond the summer before his senior year, and had just kind of kept dyeing it. He's used to it at this point; likes it a lot, even. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"Hyuk, you're in college now," Sangmi says. "The blond's really cute, but it's time for a more mature look. Don't you think so, Hongbin?"

Hongbin studies him. "Maybe dark brown?"

"We can pick up some dye after we eat," she decides with a nod. "Hongbin, how's your friend Wonshik? Is he still with Zitao?"

"Sangmi, what hair color do you think would go best with red?" Sanghyuk asks, laughing as his furiously blushing best friend kicks him under the table.

A few hours, a hair dyeing session in Sangmi's tiny apartment bathroom, and a drive back to Cartwright later, Sanghyuk studies his reflection in the dorm room mirror with a small, pleased smile. Listening to Sangmi is always worth it in the end. And Hongbin, too—he'd been the one to pick out the trousers. 

"Ready to go?" Sungjae comes back into the room, pausing when he sees Sanghyuk. "I'm telling you, you getting in is a sure thing. You don't need to buy your way in with your body."

"Shut up, let's go," Sanghyuk says with a laugh.

"What about me, how do I look?" Sungjae asks, falling in step with him as they head out. "Do I look good? Hyuk? _Hyuk_?"

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk is as quiet and composed as ever as everyone arrives at the house, talking with various brothers and pledges in turn, eating some snacks and generally seeming perfectly fine.

Baekhyun, on the other hand, is starting to lose it.

"How does anyone find pants that fit them that well?" Baekhyun hisses at Jongdae, his eyes on Sanghyuk. "Were they made for him? _Does he have an ass tailor_?"

"Calm down and stop talking," Jongdae advises him, squeezing his shoulder. "We still have three hours to go."

"I don't think I can do this. I have to—” His hands twitch, and Jongdae forcibly turns him away from Sanghyuk.

" _Focus_."

"I am focused."

"Not on his ass," Jongdae says sternly. "Three hours. You're the social chair; you can't steal a rushee away until _after_ the dinner."

"I knew I should've stuck to pulling strings behind the scenes."

Jongdae snorts. "You couldn't stay behind the scenes if your life depended on it. Now come on."

Baekhyun steals one last glance at Sanghyuk before following Jongdae into another room. At least the formal dinner marks the end of rush week. Baekhyun's not sure what he would have done if this had happened Monday instead.

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk hangs back as the dinner comes to a close, watching as everyone else files out and Baekhyun says goodbye to the alumni.

Except for Hakyeon, who gives Sanghyuk a long hug. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asks gently.

Sometimes Sanghyuk wonders. "I'll be fine," he insists.

He knows Hakyeon doesn't believe him, but he does leave, hand-in-hand with Taekwoon and with Inguk on their heels. Sanghyuk dimly remembers Hakyeon saying something at dinner about how the other former president, who also happened to be Hakyeon's big, was staying with them for the weekend.

Sanghyuk had liked Inguk. All the alumni had seemed nice, for that matter. But all he can think about is Baekhyun, who's finally finished his conversation with Heechul and is headed Sanghyuk's way.

Sanghyuk's not sure what he's been expecting—a lot, given how heatedly Baekhyun's been looking at him all night—but Baekhyun just takes his hand and pulls him upstairs, not saying a word until they're almost to his room, when he abruptly asks, "You can stay, right?"

"Yeah—”

"Good," he says, and is on him before they even cross the threshold.

Sanghyuk's fingers fumble as he tries to unbutton Baekhyun's shirt, and Baekhyun isn't doing much better. "Lesson one," Baekhyun pants between kisses. "Always undo your cuffs ahead of time."

"Good idea." Sanghyuk undoes one more button, enough for Baekhyun to yank his shirt off. Sanghyuk's takes a little more time, but finally Baekhyun is able to push the slate gray material off his shoulders. 

"I like the shirt. And the hair. Hottest rushee by far."

"I'm honored," Sanghyuk says solemnly. "What about the pants?"

Baekhyun groans and presses him down against the mattress, one hand wrapping around Sanghyuk's cock and jacking him to full hardness, kissing him until Sanghyuk can barely remember his own name, much less what he had asked him. "They're okay, I guess," Baekhyun manages, and Sanghyuk barely has time to laugh before Baekhyun's kissing him again.

"Did you decide?" Baekhyun breathes after a few minutes.

Sanghyuk knows exactly what he means; has thought of little else ever since that Skype session. "Fingers," he says in a rush. "Please."

"Thought so."

"Was that the wrong answer?" Sanghyuk asks, trying to sound dry and falling far short.

"There are no wrong answers," Baekhyun promises, voice low.

"So I can ask for whatever I want?"

"One thing at a time," Baekhyun suggests.

Sanghyuk expects him to rush right into it, but instead Baekhyun takes his time, kissing his way down Sanghyuk's chest. Sanghyuk's already breathing heavily, his cock hard against his stomach by the time Baekhyun reaches it, but has to laugh a little when Baekhyun kisses that, too, though the sound trails off into a moan when Baekhyun takes the head between his lips for a few quick sucks, one of his hands stroking along the rest of it.

All too soon he leaves off and spreads Sanghyuk's thighs. Now, Sanghyuk thinks, but first Baekhyun bites his way along the inside of one, pressure sharp enough that Sanghyuk knows it'll leave at least a few marks. He likes it, how Baekhyun’s starting to let go around him.

When Baekhyun reaches across him and pulls out lube from under the pillow, Sanghyuk goes still, and Baekhyun notices. “You’re still okay with—” he begins.

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk says quickly. “It’s just. Been a while.”

Baekhyun starts to grin. “You’ve done this to yourself?”

“Yeah, I mean, to see what it’s like.”

“You’ll have to show me sometime,” Baekhyun murmurs, leaning in again.

“Should’ve asked me over Skype.”

“I’d rather have a front-row seat for that.”

While he’d have preferred to have Baekhyun with him for everything they'd done via Skype, at least it taught him just how much Baekhyun likes performing for an audience. “Only if I get one, too.”

“Deal,” Baekhyun agrees, and Sanghyuk tugs him in for another kiss.

Baekhyun lets him draw it out for a few minutes, then has Sanghyuk turn over so that he's on his hands and knees. The way he’s rubbing small, soothing circles against Sanghyuk’s cheeks isn’t as relaxing as he probably means it to be. “Ready?”

Sanghyuk nods, and Baekhyun presses a kiss against the base of his spine as his finger circles Sanghyuk's rim, slick and cool. His fingers are thinner than Sanghyuk's, but Sanghyuk still inhales sharply as it presses in. It has been a while, and this is _Baekhyun_. 

"Relax," Baekhyun tells him, amused. "I thought you'd done this before."

"This is a little different." Sanghyuk shoots a look over his shoulder but makes the mistake of noticing Baekhyun's eyes, how dark they've gone and how intently they're trained on where his finger is disappearing into Sanghyuk, and he has to press his face against Baekhyun's pillow again to muffle his noises.

It's not long before Baekhyun's adding another finger, then a third, Sanghyuk getting more desperate with every second. “What do you think?" Baekhyun kisses along his back, open-mouthed, teeth scraping at the end to make Sanghyuk cry out. "Could I make you come just like this?”

Sanghyuk _can’t_ think. He desperately reaches down to grab his cock, needing something, _anything_ , but has to yank his hand back when Baekhyun swats his ass. The sting of it slices through him and he moans, nearly buckling. “This—Baekhyun, I can’t—please—” If he feels this good just from Baekhyun's fingers, what’s it going to be like when Baekhyun _does_ fuck him? He actually sobs at the thought.

“Okay, I’ve got you,” Baekhyun reassures him, and _finally_ reaches around with his free hand, the fingers inside Sanghyuk never slowing down. It only takes a few strokes before Sanghyuk finally comes, Baekhyun stroking him through it until Sanghyuk collapses and has to push him away.

He lies face-first on Baekhyun’s pillow for a few moments, trying to remember how to breathe, until he becomes aware of familiar, bitten-off gasps and the sound of skin on skin behind him and turns his head to see Baekhyun jerking himself off, his gaze fixed on Sanghyuk’s ass.

Sanghyuk swallows. The sight is… “Do you want me to help?” he offers hoarsely.

“No, you’re…” Baekhyun laughs a little, then moans, “you’re helping already.”

"This isn't on the list," Sanghyuk says, for lack of anything better.

"What's life without—surprises— _fuck_ —” Baekhyun's eyes clench shut as he comes, stripes of white landing across Sanghyuk's ass and lower back, and Sanghyuk wets his lips at the sight. _All semester_ , he thinks with what little coherency he can manage.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun can't be bothered to actually change the sheets, so he just strips off the stained fitted one and drops back onto the mattress, pulling Sanghyuk down with him.

Sanghyuk's oddly stiff in his arms, which confuses Baekhyun until he asks, "Should I stay?"

"You can stay whenever you want," Baekhyun says sleepily, burrowing closer to him. Sanghyuk tries to twist to wrap his arms around Baekhyun, but Baekhyun mumbles in protest and holds on tighter, keeping Sanghyuk still.

“Why are you always the big spoon? I’m taller—”

“Ssssh, my little spoon.” Baekhyun nips at his shoulder. “Sleep.”

“Do you even know how to be quiet?”

“ _Sssssh_. And hold on—” Baekhyun wriggles against him for a few seconds, then sighs in satisfaction as his cock nestles against Sanghyuk's cheeks just right. He could get used to this. Maybe he should have told Sanghyuk to stay every night. "Good. Just keep your ass right there."

Sanghyuk snorts but obeys. "Good night."

 

 

 

 

As Sungjae had predicted, there's a bid from Kappa Tau waiting for each of them when they get back from classes the next Monday.

 _got a bid_ , he texts Baekhyun.

_knew u would_

Sanghyuk smiles, but can't resist responding, _idk i heard omega chis cool..._

_we have way more to offer_

_like what_

_come over ill show you_

_i guess_

Sanghyuk shoves his phone back into his pocket, grinning as he heads out the door. He can't think of a better way to celebrate.  



	2. part two

Sanghyuk’s first Kappa Tau meeting starts with each pledge being assigned their big brother. Sanghyuk is anything but surprised when Wonshik is named his, not to mention when Wonshik makes Jaehwan switch seats with Sanghyuk so they can be next to each other for the rest of the meeting. 

“Our first house activity is on Sunday morning,” Minho announces after that’s settled. “Soccer game, skins and shirts, brothers on the same teams.” Wonshik nudges Sanghyuk, who has to smile back at him. “Oh, right, Hongbin, you didn’t get a little brother this year. Guess we’ll have to call in Taekwoon for you.”

“I can—” Daniel begins.

“We can call Taekwoon, it’s fine,” Minho insists.

Kibum snorts. “This is because his team beat yours last year, isn’t it?”

“No,” Minho says with a scowl, “but you’re right, he _should_ be the other team’s captain.”

“That’s not what I said—” Kibum begins in disbelief.

“And we’re planning our first mixer with ZBZ,” Minho continues quickly, ignoring Taemin’s laugh and how Kibum’s still shaking his head. “Have they chosen the theme yet, Baekhyun?”

“Mad Hatter,” Baekhyun says. His gaze slides to Sanghyuk and his mouth curves into a small grin. Jongdae nudges him and murmurs something, taking Baekhyun’s attention away again.

“Pledges will, of course, be expected to help out at every fraternity event, but it’ll be in shifts so that you guys can have fun, too,” Minho says. “Same thing at the party Friday night. Talk to Jongdae later and he’ll hand out your assignments.”

Sanghyuk’s gaze strays back to Baekhyun. It’s strange to see him up at the front of the group, dressed in a polo shirt and looking serious. Sanghyuk wonders how serving as an officer must look on his resume. Pretty good, probably. Fraternity connections mean they’ll all have an extra boost when it comes to jobs and other professional opportunities, but given Baekhyun’s personality, he’ll probably be able to get a job anywhere once he graduates without having to mention Kappa Tau at all. 

Which, Sanghyuk tells himself, as he shakes his head to refocus on the meeting, is a stupid thing to think about, when graduation is so far away and Baekhyun’s future doesn’t concern him at all.

 

 

 

 

“We should celebrate,” Wonshik decides once the meeting’s over. “Get dinner or something.”

Sanghyuk wrenches his gaze away from Baekhyun. He didn’t join Kappa Tau for him, he reminds himself. “That would be cool,” he agrees. “Where do you want to go?”

“Wherever you feel like driving me to.” 

“Since when do you go anywhere in anyone else’s car?”

“Since you need to get a taste of what being a pledge is all about,” Wonshik says promptly. “Oh, and I choose the music. And you’re paying.”

“Paying for what?” Baekhyun asks as he joins them, Chanyeol in tow.

“Hyuk and I are having dinner,” Wonshik explains.

Zitao promptly pouts at Baekhyun. “You didn’t do that with me when we became brothers.”

“Sanghyuk’s paying,” Baekhyun reminds him.

“So? You should still treat me now. I’m not a pledge, and you’re the one that neglected me.”

Baekhyun grins at him. “Oh come on, we ate out.” The others groan, Baekhyun unrepentant even as he dodges Chanyeol’s arm, and Sanghyuk tries hard not to think of the list sitting in his dorm room.

 

 

 

 

The mixer with Zeta Beta Zeta is coming up, but Kappa Tau is the one to throw the first party. “Our last first party of the year,” Jongdae says with a sigh as he, Chanyeol and Baekhyun enter the house, and are nearly knocked over by the wall of sound that hits them when they open the door.

“Our _first_ party of the year,” Baekhyun corrects him. “Stop being so negative!”

“Stop being so negative and start getting so drunk!” Chanyeol chimes in, draping his arms over Jongdae’s shoulders and walking him towards the bar.

Baekhyun would follow, but Zitao’s nearby in his favorite pair of ripped, skintight black jeans, and what kind of person would Baekhyun be if he didn’t say hello? “Nice hat,” Baekhyun tells Zitao, letting Zitao tug him against his side.

Zitao completely misses the sarcasm in his voice. “Thanks!” he says happily, adjusting the brim of his leopard print fedora. “I bought it with Kris last month.” Zitao’s family lives in New York, so he’s been able to visit Kris pretty regularly during breaks ever since Kris got his job in Manhattan. Not that Baekhyun’s jealous at all. 

Well, at least if he’s not there they can’t make him buy tacky hats, too. “Any luck with Hongbin?” he asks.

Zitao pouts. “When we asked if he wanted to watch a movie in our room last night, he really brought movies.”

“So why didn’t you tell him what you really wanted and unzip his pants with your teeth?”

Zitao gives him a withering look. “Because he brought really good movies.”

“Right, of course.” 

Zitao picks up on _that_ sarcasm, at least, huffing indignantly and swatting at Baekhyun’s arm. “We can’t rush him into anything, anyway. It’s Hongbin.”

“Yeah, he might bolt,” Baekhyun agrees.

“And he’s our friend.” Zitao looks across the room, eyes fond. Baekhyun follows his gaze and sees Wonshik talking with Hongbin and Hyunsik, one hand around Hongbin’s wrist.

“So go over there,” he tells Zitao, nudging him with his hip.

Zitao actually takes a half step to the side, knocked off-balance, and hip-checks him in retaliation. “What about you?”

Baekhyun scoffs. “Who was it who took care of you during your first party? ‘ _Baekhyunnie, I’ve never had alcohol before, what do I doooo_ ’—”

“You’re the worst. We’re not brothers anymore. It’s _over_.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Baekhyun has long since lost count of the number of times Zitao’s told him that. True to form, Zitao’s irritation magically vanishes when Baekhyun leans up and kisses him lightly. “Just find me later so we can dance.”

“If I feel like it,” Zitao says, kissing the top of his head and wandering away. 

Baekhyun takes a moment to watch him go, because that’s always going to be one of his favorite sights, before making his own way through the crowd. He has other people to see.

 

 

 

 

Sungjae had abandoned Sanghyuk as soon as he’d caught sight of Donggeun, and a few minutes later Sanghyuk had been put on chores duty, so he spends the first half hour setting out the food and pouring drinks until Baekhyun finds him.

“Okay, break time,” Baekhyun tells him, pulling him away.

“I thought I was supposed to—” He waves a hand at the table, where Jongup and Ilhoon are already looking around for someone to take his place.

“Shifts, remember? You don’t have to spend the entire time at our beck and call, just most of it.” Sanghyuk snorts, and Baekhyun lets go of his hand in favor of slinging his arm around his waist instead. “And I’m the social chair. It’s my job to make sure you have fun now that you’re not just some high school kid.”

“No more Jaehwan trying to put ‘jailbait’ post-its on my ass,” Sanghyuk adds.

“No more Hakyeon stealing your booze, either,” Baekhyun confirms. “Dance?”

His gaze steals over to where a number of people—including Wonshik and Zitao, he notices with a grimace—are dancing. He tries to imagine it, Baekhyun grinding against him in front of everyone, and his mouth goes dry. “I’m not really good at it,” he hedges.

“I’ll fix that,” Baekhyun says, all sorts of promises in his smile. “But first we’re going to do something more important. Come on, we need tequila.”

“And limes?” Sanghyuk asks suspiciously.

Baekhyun's mouth rounds dramatically, which—doesn't give Sanghyuk any thoughts at all. “How did you guess?”

“Baekhyun—”

"Consider it a bonus lesson," Baekhyun says. "A key part of being in a fraternity. And if you don’t want to do them off me, I’m sure Tao would be happy to volunteer.”

Although Sanghyuk has noticed Zitao’s ridiculously sculpted stomach more than a few times in the past, between him being Wonshik’s boyfriend and Baekhyun’s ex… whatever, the idea seems weirdly incestuous. “You’ll be fine,” he tells Baekhyun. “But it’s not like I don’t know how this works—”

“Theory and practice are two different things, Sanghyuk,” Baekhyun says solemnly. “Don’t you know that by now?”

Sanghyuk isn’t sold on the idea, but he lets Baekhyun tow him over to where a ZBZ member has just finished doing a shot off Jaehwan, kissing his cheek as she leaves, accompanied by a few friends. Kyungsoo is lurking nearby, probably hoping no one will notice how displeased he looks by the whole thing.

“Move over,” Baekhyun tells Jaehwan, boosting himself onto the table.

Jaehwan sits up, glee dawning on his face. “Is it time for baby’s first body shot?”

“Get your camera ready,” Baekhyun confirms.

Sanghyuk grimaces. “No, no pictures.”

“But I’m going to want to remember this.” All at once Baekhyun wraps a hand around the back of Sanghyuk’s neck and pulls him in, kisses him until Sanghyuk forgets to care about Jaehwan cat-calling in the background and that they may or may not attract even more of an audience before this is over.

Baekhyun grins up at him, then tugs off his shirt and lies down. “In case I just wiped your memory, remember, it’s lick, drink, suck. Simple.”

“Right,” Sanghyuk says, eyes fixed on Baekhyun’s pale, soft stomach.

Jaehwan nudges him. “It’ll still be there when you’re done,” he says, handing him the salt container. Sanghyuk laughs a little, determinedly not meeting Baekhyun’s eyes and ignoring how Baekhyun is rubbing two fingers against his hip as Sanghyuk sprinkles the salt. 

Someone else—Hyeri, maybe? He’s met too many ZBZ members tonight, it’s hard to keep track—hands him a shot, and Jaehwan pats his back. “Remember, drink it straight down.”

“I know,” Sanghyuk says, eyeing the shot glass one last time before deciding to just go for it. The burn is as terrible as advertised, though the salt and lime soften it somewhat, as does the approval in Baekhyun’s eyes.

“Anyone else want a turn?” Baekhyun asks, sitting up and beaming at everyone gathered around them.

“Me,” Sanghyuk says before anyone else can.

Baekhyun does a double take, then gives him an exaggerated pout. “Was it that forgettable?”

“I mean, you should do one off me,” Sanghyuk explains, and it’s worth it for the appreciation in Baekhyun’s eyes.

Sanghyuk strips off his shirt, ignoring Jaehwan’s piercing wolf-whistle, and drops it next to Baekhyun’s. Baekhyun nudges him onto his back, surprises him by kissing his stomach just to the right of his navel, then laughing and biting down a little when Sanghyuk’s body tenses, breath quick and hands clenching.

“No, the licking is _after_ you put the salt down,” Jaehwan scolds. A few people laugh. Sanghyuk can feel his face heating up, but can’t focus on that when Baekhyun almost immediately puts the lime between his lips. 

“Here, bite.” He traces his thumb over Sanghyuk’s bottom lip before he moves on to sprinkling the salt. Sanghyuk inhales sharply and Baekhyun looks down at him—

Jaehwan coughs, and Sanghyuk startles, hoping frantically that no one notices how he’s so hard he’s all but bursting out of his jeans.

He expects Baekhyun to laugh the whole thing off, but instead Baekhyun kisses him when he’s done. The tequila isn’t any better secondhand, but Sanghyuk can’t help the brief thought that for Baekhyun, he’d be willing to get used to it. 

“Do I get a turn?” one of the sophomores, Jackson, asks when they break apart, wiggling his eyebrows so that Sanghyuk can only snicker at the request.

“Sorry, I’m taking him,” Baekhyun tells him, tugging on Sanghyuk’s hand until he’s on his feet. “I want to suck something else.”

Sanghyuk’s eyes roll back, and not just from disbelief.

 

 

 

 

Almost an hour and several drinks later, loose-limbed and pleased with the world, Sanghyuk finds Hongbin again, slinging an arm around his best friend’s shoulders. “Hi,” he says.

“Why don’t you wear shirts anymore?” Sanghyuk isn’t sure if the drunken despair in Hongbin’s voice is because of his missing shirt or the sight of Zitao and Wonshik making out across the room.

“I’m living the real college experience,” Sanghyuk says, his body still humming from earlier. “Shirts not required.”

Hongbin frowns over at where Zitao has just tossed Wonshik’s shirt aside, smiling into Wonshik’s ensuing kiss. “They should be,” he says mulishly. “It should be a law.”

Sanghyuk pats his back, then steers him in the opposite direction. He figures they’ve both seen enough. “Come on,” he says reassuringly. “I think there are some people with shirts on over here.”

“Okay,” Hongbin mumbles, leaning against Sanghyuk.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun, on the other hand, almost immediately runs into Hakyeon.

Baekhyun tenses, but Hakyeon raises his hands. “Don’t worry, I’m calm and Taekwoon’s with Yixing,” he says. “I just want to remind you of something.”

“What?”

“If you keep doing this, you’re going to be his first for all these things,” Hakyeon says.

“Yeah, that’s the idea—” Baekhyun reminds him patiently.

“But Sanghyuk isn’t like you,” Hakyeon interrupts, voice rising. “You may want to think he is, but he’s not. You can sleep with whoever, that’s your choice, but anything like that—it means something to him.”

“He means something to me,” Baekhyun objects. “We’re—friends.” The word tastes strange on his tongue.

Hakyeon sighs. “If you keep this up, he’ll want a lot more than that from you. And I don’t want to see him hurt when you won’t give it to him.”

“Hakyeon, I’m not leading him on—” 

“I’m not saying you’d do it on purpose,” Hakyeon insists, even though Baekhyun doesn’t see what else he could mean by it. “I’m just asking you to rethink this before it goes any further.”

Hakyeon leaves him with that, and Baekhyun turns his words over in his mind for a few seconds before dismissing them. Hakyeon looks out for everyone he cares about, that’s just who he is, and he’s always adored Sanghyuk. But he can go overboard, and that’s probably what he’s doing now, too.

It’ll be fine, Baekhyun tells himself. If Sanghyuk starts getting too attached, he’ll notice and he’ll put a stop to it. No big deal.

 

 

 

 

Saturday is the nicest day it’s been since school started. “Even the weather doesn’t want to fuck with Minho about soccer,” Baekhyun mutters to Sanghyuk, who laughs.

Their president calls everyone over, dropping a few soccer balls at the edge of the field. There are a few people in the bleachers, Sanghyuk notices—mostly girls, although of course Hakyeon’s on the seat closest to the group.

A quick coin toss ends with Taekwoon being dubbed captain of the skins team. Wonshik and Zitao both whistle as Hongbin obediently pulls off his shirt, making Hongbin blush.

“Then Tao and I—” Wonshik begins.

“No way,” Minho interrupts. “I haven’t forgotten the floor hockey tournament.”

“But—”

“You two aren’t playing together ever again, end of story.”

“Then we’ll have to be skins,” Baekhyun says, resigned. Sure enough, Zitao yanks his tank top off before Baekhyun even finishes his sentence.

The rest of the house chooses teams from there, a process that goes surprisingly quickly. Taekwoon takes his team to the other side of the field to sort out positions and strip off their shirts, leaving Minho to organize the brothers he’s ended up with.

“I’m glad you guys could come out today,” Sanghyuk overhears Minho telling Hakyeon before he starts. “I can always use Taekwoon.”

“No problem,” Hakyeon says vaguely, gaze fixed on where Taekwoon is tossing his shirt aside and calling his team in for a huddle. “Always happy to help.”

Minho laughs, but by the time he returns to where his team has gathered all traces of anything even vaguely pleasant are gone from his face. Sanghyuk remembers the stories Hongbin’s told him of Minho’s competitive streak. “Okay, here’s how it’s going to go…”

After several intense minutes of strategizing—minutes no one dares to interrupt, Sanghyuk notices, even though their team has more than its fair share of loudmouths—Minho smiles, but it’s not the genial one Sanghyuk is used to seeing from him. He’s ready for war. “We’re going to crush them,” he says firmly.

“No pressure,” Wonshik mumbles to Sanghyuk as they head out to the field.

It’s a hard-fought match, but, maybe inspired by Minho’s opening… pep talk, Sanghyuk’s team ekes out a one-goal win. Flush with victory, Minho talks them all, Taekwoon included, into playing again in two weeks.

“We need a group picture,” Minho announces. “Hakyeon, would you mind…?”

Hakyeon starts, and then nods. “Sure, of course.”

It takes some discussion, too much of Zitao and Hongbin’s advice, and a lot of manhandling, but the group organizes themselves eventually. Somehow despite their height difference Baekhyun ends up next to Sanghyuk, angled so that he’s flush against his back.

“Personal space, Baekhyun,” Hakyeon warns.

“This is my personal space,” he says with an audible leer, pressing himself even closer. 

Hakyeon looks up from the camera and pins Baekhyun with a dark look, like he knows Baekhyun’s fingers have crept under Sanghyuk’s shirt. “You need to be kneeling, anyway.”

Baekhyun squeezes Sanghyuk’s hip. “I tried,” he says mournfully.

“I’ll miss you,” Sanghyuk says with a dramatic sigh.

“Baekhyun, go down,” Hakyeon tells him impatiently.

“Funny, that’s what Hyuk said to me last night-” Baekhyun begins, and Kyungsoo yanks Baekhyun down next to him. 

As they all head back to the house, Sungjae runs to catch up with Sanghyuk. He still hasn’t bothered to put his shirt back on. “You should’ve been on my team,” he tells him, nudging Sanghyuk. “Abs for _days_.”

“We’re the ones that won,” Sanghyuk says serenely, his eyes on where Baekhyun is walking ahead of them, Zitao’s arm around his shoulders. They haven’t bothered putting their shirts back on, either.

“I think we’re all winners today,” Sungjae says, and Sanghyuk can’t argue.

 

 

 

 

Jongdae is the pledge coordinator this year, which means that he’s the one in charge of all the rush week tasks and events. Generous soul that he is, he’s offered to let anyone interested help him come up with ideas.

Needless to say, most of the brothers are present for the discussion.

"There are limits, right?" Hongbin asks. "To what we can do?"

"Don't worry about it," Jongdae says, trying to ruffle Hongbin’s hair only to jerk back with a yelp. “What the hell is that?”

“ _Pomade_ ,” Hongbin says, shooting him an irritated look. 

Jongdae grimaces and wipes his hand on his jeans. "Anyway, you made it through okay last year, right? We aren't evil."

As if on cue, Taemin pops his head into the room. "Now can I tell you my ideas for things we can do to them?”

"Taemin, no," Kibum says firmly, shooing him away yet again.

"Most of us aren't evil," Jongdae amends.

" _I've_ had some ideas," Baekhyun says, leaning forward. As expected, everyone else leans in, too, even Jongdae. "Here's the first thing we should do..."

 

 

 

 

This all leads to two evenings later, when Sanghyuk and Sungjae are both studying before bed. A knock at the door has Sanghyuk looking up sharply from his psychology textbook.

“I’ll get it,” Sungjae says, jumping to his feet. “I can thank them for saving me from math-”

He barely has the door open when whoever’s on the other side shoves it the rest of the way. Sungjae yells and Sanghyuk gets to his feet, too, just in time for four guys, ski masks covering their faces, to storm in. Two grab Sungjae and the other two take care of Sanghyuk.

Struggle though they might, Sungjae and Sanghyuk are dragged across campus, only to be deposited in Kappa Tau’s backyard, where their assailants tug off their masks and reveal themselves to be Hongbin, Wonshik, Jaehwan and Chanyeol. “I thought I was gonna go deaf,” Jaehwan complains, shoving Sungjae’s shoulder fondly.

“Now you understand how we feel,” Hongbin tells him, laughing when it’s his turn to be hit.

The other pledges are dragged in eventually, too, more and more members unmasking themselves as they arrive. Baekhyun sends Sanghyuk a quick wink as soon as his is off, and Sanghyuk tries really hard not to think about other times he’s seen Baekhyun short of breath with messy hair. 

Once they’re all assembled, Jongdae steps forward, beaming at them. “So, pledges! You’ll be staying out here tonight.”

Which… doesn’t sound so bad, Sanghyuk thinks. He knows all schools are cracking down on hazing, but even so, he’d assumed they’d have a taste of it. Staying outside all night doesn’t seem like much at all.

But then Jongdae’s lips curl up even further and he adds, “In your underwear.”

Sanghyuk turns to share a disbelieving look with Sungjae, just in time to see Sungjae, completely straight-faced, call out, “Donggeun, I need to borrow underwear!”

Jongdae laughs so loudly that one of the other pledges jumps. “Yeah, Donggeun, take care of your boyfriend.”

“I’m not his—” Donggeun begins, then sighs in resignation as Sungjae fakes a shocked look, “Fine, come on.” Sungjae grins at the others, completely devoid of shame, and hurries to follow Donggeun back into the house.

 

 

 

 

It’s not too cold at night, at least, but it does seem to last forever. Jongup falls asleep early, and somebody produces half a dozen permanent markers from thin air. They make quick work of his face—Sanghyuk’s especially proud of the curlicued moustache he scribbles across Jongup’s upper lip, and Sungjae starts laughing every time he looks at the dick he added along Jongup’s temple—which sets the tone for the rest of the night. Sanghyuk and Sungjae do their best to keep each other awake so that they won’t meet a similar fate. 

Once dawn breaks and Jongdae comes out and tells them time’s up, all Sanghyuk wants is to go back to the dorm and nap a little before class. What he gets instead is Baekhyun waving him over and handing him a coffee. 

Once Sanghyuk’s taken a long swallow, he narrows his eyes at Baekhyun. “Was this why you said I shouldn’t come over last night?”

“I wanted you to have the full experience,” Baekhyun says with a nod. “I mean, I could have let them kidnap you while we were hooking up, but—”

Which is a good point, but Sanghyuk’s not done. “Was the stripping your idea, too?”

“I’m a genius, I know.”

Sanghyuk sighs. “Yeah, and I have class in an hour.”

“Sleep deprivation,” Baekhyun says with a nod, patting his cheek. “Learn to love it.” Sanghyuk groans. “You have two classes today, right?”

“Three.”

“Ouch.” When Sanghyuk gives him an unimpressed look, Baekhyun laughs and continues, “Okay, look. If you make it without falling asleep, come back here and I’ll reward you.”

Sanghyuk frowns. “Don’t you have a test tomorrow?”

“I’ll always make time for you,” Baekhyun says sweetly. This time, big surprise, he pats Sanghyuk’s ass. “So, reward.”

“What kind of reward?”

Baekhyun tilts his head, fingertips sliding up Sanghyuk’s torso. “You like my thighs, right?”

“Hmm?” Sanghyuk’s eyes drop to them instinctively, and it takes effort to look away again, not only because of the sleep deprivation. “They’re okay, I guess.”

“So you don’t want to fuck them? I mean, if you think you’ll be up for it.”

“Deal,” Sanghyuk says immediately, and doesn’t even care that Baekhyun still looks pleased with himself as they head inside.

 

 

 

 

To top his day off, Sanghyuk walks into the dorm room after his third class only to find Sungjae and Donggeun in Sungjae’s bed, doing—well, it’s more than Sanghyuk ever needed to see of either of them.

Sanghyuk yells and Sungjae quickly yanks the bed sheet up over them both. “We made some decisions,” Sungjae says after a beat, voice muffled.

“You couldn’t have decided to put a sock on the door or something?” Sanghyuk retorts.

“Sorry.”

Sanghyuk sighs. “Just—open a window or something when you’re done.” 

Sungjae’s head pops back out from under the covers, ignoring Donggeun’s sound of dismay. “Oh, hey, are you going for dinner? Can you bring me—?”

“We’re not _talking_ right now,” Sanghyuk interrupts, then flees, the sound of his roommate’s laughter trailing after him.

 

 

 

 

“So I’m really happy for you about this whole sex tutoring thing,” Jongdae tells Baekhyun a few days later, as a bunch of them are playing Mario Kart in the common room, “but do you have to be so loud?”

“Do what we do and buy earplugs,” Kyungsoo advises him.

“Oh, hey!” Chanyeol sits up abruptly as his car crosses the finish line. “That reminds me! Baekhyun. I’m going out with Jinri again tonight and—”

“Wait, again? Really?”

Chanyeol kicks him. “If Jinri comes back to the house with me, can you guys _not_ make enough noise to wake up the whole floor? Please?”

“I’m sorry I’m so good that Hyuk can’t help himself,” Baekhyun says. His car finishes just in time for him to accompany the remark with a mile-wide grin over his shoulder that earns him another kick.

“Yet another reason it’s so nice dating someone with their own place,” Jongdae says smugly.

“Well then why don’t you go live there?” Chanyeol returns.

“Because,” Baekhyun says, the way he does any time anyone suggests this, “he can’t leave _me_.” He leans his head on Jongdae’s shoulder, fluttering his lashes, and Jongdae laughs and shoves him away.

A few minutes later Zitao and Hongbin come downstairs, hipster glasses on and cameras in hand. “We’re going to the art show,” Zitao announces. 

“I still think it’s unfair,” Wonshik says from his spot on the arm of the couch, ignoring Chanyeol’s yell of victory as he speeds past Wonshik’s car. Baekhyun’s not taking his eyes off the screen for more than a second, but Wonshik’s priorities have shifted completely. “You two _are_ artwork.”

Zitao preens but Hongbin blushes and turns away, trying to laugh it off. “Anyone else want to come with us?”

“I will,” Wonshik says, passing his controller to Jaehwan. “Take over my spot.”

Jaehwan stares dismally at the screen, where he’s long since been left in the dust by the rest of the group. “What’s the point?”

Once those three are gone, Kibum demands, “How can Hongbin have _two_ guys after him and I don’t have _any_?”

“Don’t worry, one day your prince will come,” Baekhyun tells him, patting his thigh. 

“Or your TA,” Jaehwan adds.

Kyungsoo sighs, longsuffering. “For the last time, I wasn’t still in Ryeowook’s class when we started dating.”

“How long did he wait to ask you out, five minutes?” Jaehwan’s laughter cuts off abruptly when Kyungsoo’s car crosses the finish line and he promptly sinks a fist into Jaehwan’s side.

“Actually, it was—” Jongin begins, but he stops, too, when Kyungsoo gives him a warning look.

Baekhyun’s the next one to finish the race and immediately reaches for his drink, groaning when he realizes it’s empty. “Pledge! Beer!”

“Okay!” at least three say immediately.

Baekhyun sighs, pleased, when Changhyun brings him another bottle. "It's good to have pledges again.”

"Best time of the year," Jongdae agrees, then catches Changhyun’s arm. "Oh, hey, there’s an officer meeting tonight and we're going to need food."

"Make sure you get everything on the list," Baekhyun says as Jongdae hands it to the kid. "And more soda. And booze—does he look old enough to get booze?"

"Do _you_?" Jongdae returns.

Baekhyun gives him his cutest smile, then begins, “Oh, and we need—” He cuts off when he sees Sanghyuk enter the house. “You tell him the rest,” he tells Jongdae, and heads Sanghyuk’s way, ignoring Jongdae’s protests.

“Good timing,” he tells Sanghyuk, hooking two fingers in his belt loop and tugging him toward the stairs. “We were just talking about how much we appreciate our pledges.”

“And now you’re going to demonstrate it?”

“How better than with my favorite pledge?” It was just an offhand remark, so he’s thrown when Sanghyuk’s eyes widen at his words. “Come on, who else would it be?” 

Sanghyuk recovers quickly enough. “Maybe,” he suggests, “you should prove it.”

Baekhyun grins.

 

 

 

 

Apparently the best way Baekhyun can think of to show his appreciation means Sanghyuk ass-up on the mattress while Baekhyun licks his way deep inside him. Even through latex, it’s unbelievable, better than anything they’ve done so far, and Sanghyuk can’t be quiet.

Baekhyun’s hands don’t stop, kneading and massaging his cheeks, occasionally letting one drop down to rub along the inside of Sanghyuk’s thighs or cup his balls. All the stimulation means that by the time Baekhyun lets Sanghyuk reach down and jerk himself off, it only takes a few tugs before Sanghyuk comes, muffling his shouts with the pillow.

Baekhyun nudges him onto his back, then leans over him for one kiss, then another, tangled and hot. His mouth tastes like latex but Sanghyuk can’t even tease him about it, or about the way he laces their hands together and guides Sanghyuk’s to wrap around his cock. He groans when Sanghyuk obediently starts to tug. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to do that, _fuck_ ,” Baekhyun says breathlessly.

“You underlined it three times on the list,” Sanghyuk reminds him, Baekhyun biting his collarbone when Sanghyuk runs his thumb over his cockhead. 

“Only three? Should’ve been—five—” His voice jumps up an octave, then breaks entirely, and Sanghyuk presses his smile against Baekhyun’s throat.

 

 

 

 

“So did you do this when you were a freshman?” Sanghyuk asks later that night.

“Have a teacher? No, I already knew everything.” Sanghyuk swats at him and Baekhyun does an eerily accurate imitation of Jongdae’s whine, then continues, “Hook up with a hot senior, though? Key part of the freshman experience.”

“Who was it?”

“His name’s Jonghyun.” Baekhyun smiles at the memory. “He’s in Boston now, so we don’t see him much. But he’s Kibum’s big brother, so he might come to graduation this year.”

“Oh.”

Baekhyun blinks. “What’s wrong? You’re not…”

“Just glad some nice senior took pity on you,” Sanghyuk teases, and the moment is forgotten when Baekhyun retaliates by pinning him to the mattress. It quickly devolves from there. Which is just as well—Baekhyun would much rather get them both off again than wonder if Sanghyuk might be jealous.

Baekhyun’s just started to reach down between them for Sanghyuk’s cock when he can hear the murmur of voices next door, one of which he recognizes as Jinri’s, and goes still, turning away from Sanghyuk’s mouth for a moment to focus. Sure enough, he hears Jinri again a few seconds later. “She actually came back with him,” he says in disbelief.

“Huh? Who?” Sanghyuk asks distantly, cupping one hand against Baekhyun’s face and kissing him again before he can answer. Baekhyun indulges him for a while, until Chanyeol’s laugh snaps him out of it and he breaks away again. 

“I kind of promised him that if he brought Jinri back, we wouldn’t make any noise,” Baekhyun explains.

“What—” Sanghyuk begins, only to be interrupted by one of Chanyeol’s deep moans. “Oh.”

“ _Yeah_.”

Baekhyun doesn’t have earplugs, since Kyungsoo never brings Ryeowook by the house and Chanyeol hasn’t gotten any since his breakup with Byunghun back in the spring. So Sanghyuk and Baekhyun lie still, occasionally trading awkward glances as the noises on the other side of the wall continue, crescendo, then finally fall silent.

“So, his date went well,” Sanghyuk deadpans at last, and Baekhyun cracks up, rolling over to laugh into Sanghyuk’s shoulder.

 

 

 

 

Their community service is at the nearby children's home. Hongbin has already told Sanghyuk all about it, so he knows what to expect. They'll go every other weekend, clean the building and play with the kids. Last year, Sanghyuk had given Hongbin a lot of grief about ‘being a good role model’ and Hongbin had given it right back about how they practiced on him.

Baekhyun is great with the kids. Somehow Sanghyuk isn't even surprised. It's a matter of minutes before he has a circle of tiny adorers that rivals the size of his typical circle of brother-sized admirers, though this one is mostly made up of little girls. "What can I say?" Baekhyun asks when he catches Sanghyuk's amused look. "Ladies love me."

“They’re too young to know better,” Sanghyuk says, shaking his head sadly. 

Because of this, Minho decides their next house soccer game will be on Sunday this time instead of Saturday, an announcement he makes just before they all leave the children’s home. “Ready to lose again tomorrow?” Sanghyuk asks Baekhyun once Minho’s announcements are done.

“Last time was a fluke,” Baekhyun says dismissively. “We have this one in the bag. You’ll see.”

“I hope you never gamble,” Sanghyuk says, though he cuts his laughter short when he sees the thoughtful look that crosses Baekhyun’s face. “What?”

“Let’s make this interesting,” Baekhyun suggests.

Sanghyuk isn’t even surprised. Baekhyun makes everything interesting. “You want to bet on this?”

“Yeah. If you win, you get to pick—” There are still some kids around, saying goodbye to the other brothers or playing or whatever, so Baekhyun carefully finishes, “—what we do next.”

That’s tempting. Not that he’s doubted any of Baekhyun’s choices so far, but there are a few things on the list he really wants to jump ahead to. “What about you? What do you get?”

“That’s a risk you’ll have to take,” Baekhyun says.

Sanghyuk isn’t sure it’s much of a risk when the thigh-fucking from the other week is still one of his go-to fantasies, but he feigns reluctance by sighing and rolling his eyes a little. It’s the principle of the thing. “Fine, whatever. I guess we can.”

Baekhyun starts to reach for him, then his eyes dart to the side, noticing that a few members of his tiny fan club are waiting for him to finish his conversation, and he yanks his hand back. Sanghyuk barely smothers a laugh. _Later_ , Baekhyun mouths before heading over to the kids.

Sanghyuk can’t wait.

 

 

 

 

“Okay,” Minho says to the team before their next match. They’ve switched around this time so that Sanghyuk’s side is shirtless now, and he swears he can feel Baekhyun’s eyes on him. “We won last time, so we have to win again or we’ll never be able to forgive ourselves.” So cheerful, their president, Sanghyuk thinks wryly. 

But something about his approach is working: just like last week, they pull off a one-goal win.

Sanghyuk high-fives Minho, then beams across the field at Baekhyun, whose responding grin is sharp. Victory has never felt so sweet.

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk half-expects Baekhyun to demand to know what he wants as soon as they get to his room, but instead he waits until they’re both naked and he’s two fingers deep in Sanghyuk, biting at his collarbone as Sanghyuk rocks back onto them. He could’ve told Baekhyun up front what he wanted, of course, but he figures this way Baekhyun will get something he wants, too. Besides, it’ll work out for his plan in the long run.

Baekhyun stops abruptly, free hand pressing Sanghyuk’s hip against the bed to hold him still, and withdraws his hand. Sanghyuk protests but Baekhyun simply crawls over him and covers his mouth with his, swallowing his complaints until Sanghyuk can’t remember them, or much of anything.

“Well?” Baekhyun asks, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Sanghyuk turns his head, trying to follow, but Baekhyun ducks away and kisses him again at the hinge of his jaw. “What is it you want?”

“Huh?” Everything, he wants everything. He can’t figure out where to start.

“ _Hyuk_ ,” Baekhyun says, laughter in his voice. One hand draws idle circles against the back of Sanghyuk’s neck while Baekhyun nips at his earlobe, then at the skin beneath it, where he’d discovered last week that Sanghyuk is extra sensitive. Sanghyuk arches up, clutching at Baekhyun, for all the good it does him. “You won, remember? What do you want?”

If anyone’s won anything today it’s not him, Sanghyuk almost says, but then he remembers and takes a deep breath, shifting back just enough so that he can sit up. Baekhyun follows suit, tilting his head. “You want to fuck me, right?”

Baekhyun goes still for a moment, gaze sharpening. “There’s a list of things I want to do to you,” he says wryly. “An actual list.”

“And that’s on it, so you should.”

“You sure?” Baekhyun’s still skimming his fingertips along Sanghyuk’s inner thighs, and the teasing touches put him even more on edge. Not ready for Baekhyun to reclaim the upper hand, Sanghyuk leans back against the wall and spreads his legs a little more, tilting his hips up, pleased at how Baekhyun’s eyes lock onto his entrance. “I have a schedule, you know.”

“I thought this was for meeting my every need.”

“You _need_ me to fuck you?” Baekhyun’s eyes are on his, fingertips sliding up to circle around Sanghyuk’s lube-slick rim, so close to where he wants them. Baekhyun will probably hold this over his head for days, but Sanghyuk _wants_ it, badly enough that he pulls Baekhyun in for a quick, filthy kiss until Sanghyuk breaks off with a gasp as two of Baekhyun’s fingers finally breach his hole again, testing the stretch.

“ _Please_ ,” Sanghyuk begs.

“Okay,” Baekhyun assures him, squeezing his hip with his free hand. “Hands and knees, Sanghyuk. Come on.”

Sanghyuk obeys, shuffling into position as Baekhyun drips more lube onto his fingers. He pushes two into him, then adds a third. “I was going to ask for this soon,” Baekhyun admits as he finally crooks them. Sanghyuk whimpers as Baekhyun finds his prostate almost immediately, like he knows Sanghyuk’s body inside out. “I was going to work up to it for a few more days already, get you more used to this.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sanghyuk says in a rush, rocking back at the pace Baekhyun’s setting, like practice for what’s to come. “I just…” 

“You’ll be more than _fine_ ,” Baekhyun tells him, and speeds up, relentless, rubbing over his prostate with every stroke until Sanghyuk folds forward, muffling a few moans against the pillow, only to utter the loudest one yet when Baekhyun grabs his hair with his free hand and pulls his head up again.

“Don’t, I want to hear you,” Baekhyun says, his voice low right in Sanghyuk’s ear, sending a shudder down his spine. “Is it good?”

“It’s so—Baekhyun, it’s so good, please—”

“You’re so polite.”

“Private school,” Sanghyuk manages to say, and is even able to get out a ragged laugh as Baekhyun murmurs appreciatively and nips at his jaw. “Don’t—no jokes about it—”

“Later,” Baekhyun promises. He withdraws his fingers and moves to lean over the bed, where Sanghyuk knows he has condoms stashed underneath it. He watches, one hand pressed against his achingly hard cock, as Baekhyun retrieves one and has it on in seconds.

Baekhyun’s cock feels completely different from his fingers or his tongue. Sanghyuk can feel it throbbing as Baekhyun slowly pushes forward, how it presses him open and makes him feel so full. 

“I… it’s…”

“Breathe, Hyuk,” Baekhyun reminds him with an unsteady laugh, kissing between his shoulder blades as he finally bottoms out. Sanghyuk’s hands clutch at the sheets and Baekhyun’s curl around them for a few moments, grounding him—not much, but a little. Enough.

“Okay,” Sanghyuk murmurs at last, lifting his forehead from the mattress and looking at Baekhyun over his shoulder.

“Thank fuck,” Baekhyun says, heartfelt. He shifts back, then forward, shallow thrusts at first and then faster, reaching down with one hand to fist Sanghyuk’s cock in unison with each snap of his hips. 

Sanghyuk’s head drops forward again, gasping for air. He can hear Baekhyun’s thighs slapping against his, the wet squelching of his cock sliding in and out through the lube, noises that had always made him laugh and Hongbin cringe during porn but that are going to be echoing in his head for _days_. Wonshik had given him the real life vs. porn talk months ago, awkward but sincere, including a mention of how his first few times might be more uncomfortable than enjoyable until he got used to it, but Sanghyuk’s cock had barely softened even during the initial slide, maybe because Baekhyun’s been more or less working him up to it for weeks. With Baekhyun biting his way down Sanghyuk’s spine and Baekhyun’s cock now pounding into him, angle adjusted so that it hits his prostate every time, and Baekhyun’s hand firm and quick, it’s not long before Sanghyuk can feel everything building in the pit of his stomach.

“Baekhyun,” he says, or tries, his voice breaking on every syllable. 

“That’s it, you can—” Baekhyun begins, laughing a little when one thrust makes Sanghyuk moan so loudly it drowns out anything he would have said. “I want—come while I’m inside you, Hyuk, come _on_ —”

It only takes another minute until it hits and he’s shooting through Baekhyun’s fingers. He’s vaguely aware of Baekhyun crying out as Sanghyuk rides it out, spasming around Baekhyun’s cock.

After a few more minutes, Baekhyun whines, hips jerking, and Sanghyuk feels him pulsing even through the condom, Baekhyun thrusting shallowly a few more times as he finishes.

“Good choice,” Baekhyun pants into his neck and Sanghyuk murmurs in agreement, threading their fingers together.

 

 

 

 

“Why did you hesitate?” Sanghyuk mumbles later that night, when they’re both finally sated and ready for sleep.

Baekhyun tightens his arms around him, nuzzling the back of his neck. “Huh?”

“When I said I wanted you to fuck me. I thought you’d say yes right away, but you didn’t. Why?”

Baekhyun had hoped he hadn’t noticed, since his reason for it had been stupid. He should have jumped Sanghyuk right away. But for some reason, as soon as Sanghyuk had said it Baekhyun had remembered what Hakyeon had told him about taking Sanghyuk’s firsts and what it would mean.

Stupid. He’s told himself that before, and he’s saying it again now. Just because Hakyeon had gotten emotional about losing it to Minseok in high school or whatever—which is proof right there that he’s wrong, seeing as Hakyeon has been with Taekwoon since before Baekhyun even knew them and Minseok’s engaged to a woman who works at his architecture firm—doesn’t mean Sanghyuk is the same way. “Just wanted to make sure you were sure,” he lies. “It’s not like you’ll win next time.”

“Oh yeah?” Sanghyuk snorts. “Sorry you’re shirtless _and_ talentless-” Baekhyun bites at his shoulder and Sanghyuk laughs sleepily, squeezing Baekhyun’s hands.  



	3. part three

It seems like everything gets put on hold for midterms, including Sanghyuk and Baekhyun’s arrangement. Sanghyuk has a few classes with other pledges, so he’s able to study for psych with Dongho and chemistry with Sungjae and Jongup. The whole frat house is quieter than usual. Everyone’s poring over notes or typing up papers.

Though, Sanghyuk has to admit, some study sessions are more productive than others. Like now, when instead of focusing on his notes his gaze keeps straying over to the other side of the common room, where Baekhyun’s in a chair by the window, rubbing his forehead. He’s looked tired and stressed all week, downing coffee and pouting at his computer screen more often than not. Sanghyuk knows they’re taking a break from his _other_ education for a good reason, since they do distract each other, but maybe they could use a break from their break. It might make them both feel better, and—

“Hey.” Jongup waves a hand in front of Sanghyuk’s face, and he startles. “Are you even listening?”

Right. Chemistry. All he should be thinking about are molecules and formulas, not Baekhyun licking him open until he can’t even remember his own name. “Yeah, sorry,” he says quickly. “What’s the question?”

Sungjae looks over at Baekhyun, then grins at Sanghyuk. "Are you in withdrawal?" 

"Maybe," Sanghyuk grumbles, but there's nothing he can do about it. Pretty much the entire frat is consumed with studying, not just them. He just has to wait until it's all over.

Hooking up with someone else in the meantime never even occurs to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_free_ , he texts Baekhyun as soon as he walks out of his last midterm.

_me2 come over_ , is the almost immediate response.

He's starving, he hasn't slept enough in days, and he's probably not fit for human interaction right now, but that doesn’t stop him from texting back, _on my way_ , and heading to the Kappa Tau house.

The entire atmosphere of the house has changed, volume restored to almost pre-midterm levels. Not that Sanghyuk has much time to notice before Baekhyun is on him, pulling him down for a kiss that sets off a round of cat-calls from the guys in the rec room.

Baekhyun starts to back towards the staircase, hooking two fingers in Sanghyuk’s belt loop to tow him along, but Sanghyuk breaks away when he smells something amazing coming from the kitchen. "Someone's making food?" he asks hopefully.

" _Later_ ," Baekhyun says with an insistent tug. "I'll feed you myself, just come on—”

"Baekhyun, let him eat," Kibum calls from the kitchen.

Baekhyun sighs. "Sanghyuk," he appeals, "do you really want to eat _now_? Or do you want me?"

Sanghyuk leans back down and kisses him, hands gripping at Baekhyun’s waist and melting into the kiss maybe a little more than planned, then waits until Baekhyun looks especially triumphant before he says, "Since I haven’t eaten today..."

Baekhyun groans and Sanghyuk laughs. He's missed this, too. "Fine, come on," Baekhyun says, and leads him into the kitchen.

Chanyeol’s pulling brownies out of the oven as they arrive, Kyungsoo observing from nearby. At the counter Kibum is putting together a sandwich, although once he catches sight of Sanghyuk, Kibum hands it to him. “How did your midterms go?” Kibum asks. “Baekhyun, get him a drink.”

“I took midterms today, too,” Baekhyun points out. 

“Then pour yourself a drink, too,” Kibum says dismissively, and Baekhyun juts out his lower lip, looking to Sanghyuk for sympathy. Sanghyuk takes the biggest bite of his sandwich he can manage and moans exaggeratedly, then snorts when Baekhyun promptly steals a bite, too, on his way to the fridge. 

“Hyuk?” Kibum prompts him, reclaiming his attention.

Sanghyuk quickly swallows. “They went okay. They’re over, that’s what counts.”

“Not quite,” Baekhyun says, handing him a can of soda. 

“What?”

“I’m giving you a midterm, too,” Baekhyun says with a wink.

Kibum rolls his eyes. “We don’t need to hear about it,” he says, shoving the next sandwich at Baekhyun.

“You’re going to love it,” Baekhyun assures Sanghyuk before taking a bite.

Sanghyuk has long since learned not to doubt him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_just let urself in_ , Baekhyun’s text the next evening reads. Sanghyuk understands why the second he opens the door and sees Baekhyun, naked and cuffed to the headboard.

“How did you…”

Baekhyun beams at him. “I’ll never tell,” he sing-songs.

“Are you being cute in handcuffs?”

“I’m cute all the time,” Baekhyun reminds him. “Now close the door and come here.”

Sanghyuk obeys. By some miracle, he doesn’t trip over himself in the process. “What’s going on?”

“This,” Baekhyun says, drawing out his words, “is your midterm.”

“… what?”

“I need to see what you’ve learned, so I’m going to stay cuffed and you’re going to show me.”

Sanghyuk blinks at him. Thankfully his mouth’s running on autopilot. So’s his hand, which is tracing its way along Baekhyun’s thigh. “So what you’re saying is you don’t feel like doing any of the work today.”

Baekhyun sighs. “Oh ye of little faith.”

“What if I’d been late? Or I’d cancelled?”

“You weren’t, and you didn’t.” Baekhyun smiles. “Come here.”

Sanghyuk obeys, shifting closer until Baekhyun can close the distance between them and kiss him. “Come on, Hyuk,” Baekhyun murmurs against his lips. “Impress me.”

That wakes Sanghyuk out of his daze. That’s what he’s always wanted to do. “Do you, um…” Handcuffs. That changes things. He wracks his brain, trying to remember everything Sangmi had ranted about in the wake of Fifty Shades. “Do you have a safe word?”

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows. “Firefly. Do you think I’ll need it?”

That’s what pushes Sanghyuk’s nerves aside once and for all. If there’s one thing he’s learned from Baekhyun this semester, it’s that two can play this game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk makes him come three times and is reaching for him again when Baekhyun pants, voice long since gone rough, “Okay, stop, firefly, whatever, uncuff me, test over.”

"Did I pass?"

Baekhyun lifts his head and looks at him blearily. Are those—tears at the corners of his eyes? "Give me a minute."

“Okay.” Sanghyuk grabs the key, unlocking the cuffs as quickly as he can, and starts massaging one of Baekhyun’s wrists. “Do you want me to get you a drink or anything?”

“I’m okay,” Baekhyun murmurs.

“Just stay still, I’ll clean everything up.”

“So much extra credit,” Baekhyun says fondly, eyes slipping shut.

Sanghyuk drifts off to sleep secure in the knowledge that for once he actually got the best of Baekhyun.

He shouldn’t be so surprised that Baekhyun can’t let that stand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk’s completely disoriented when he wakes up. His hips are already moving, cock so hard he’s throbbing, until he sees Baekhyun’s head between his legs and registers the heat of Baekhyun’s mouth and suddenly everything becomes clear.

“Oh _fuck_ ,” he gasps, and Baekhyun’s eyes flick up long enough to give Sanghyuk the smuggest look he’s ever seen—which, for Baekhyun, is saying a lot—then closes them as he fucking _deep throats him_ , taking nearly all of him without blinking, and cups his balls in his free hand.

Sanghyuk doesn’t last very long after that.

“There, extra credit reward,” Baekhyun says hoarsely, smirking as he slides back up the bed.

Sanghyuk blinks at him. “Jesus, Baekhyun. You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Baekhyun winks. “No gag reflex.”

“Of course not.” Sanghyuk touches Baekhyun’s throat reverently. When he cradles the back of Baekhyun’s neck in his hand, rubbing his thumb in small circles, Baekhyun shivers. Sanghyuk likes this. It’s nice knowing that even Baekhyun has a weak point.

“I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.” Baekhyun kisses him, laughing against his mouth as Sanghyuk objects to the taste, then pushes him lightly. “Come on. Community service.”

Sanghyuk looks at the clock and groans. “Shit, that’s today?”

“Get up, Sanghyuk,” Baekhyun says, pulling him out of bed. “Do it for the children.”

Sanghyuk starts to become more alert during their shower—not that it stops Baekhyun from insisting on soaping him up—though he doesn’t fully wake up until afterwards, when he finishes getting dressed and glances over at Baekhyun. Baekhyun smiles brightly at Sanghyuk when their eyes meet, and the last vestiges of Sanghyuk’s sleepiness vanish abruptly when he sees what Baekhyun’s wearing—a familiar blue shirt that Sanghyuk hasn’t seen since the first frat party.

“I thought I’d lost that,” he says.

“Lost what?” Baekhyun asks innocently.

“ _This_.” He tugs at one sleeve.

There’s that deliberately cute voice again, Baekhyun tilting his head to add to the effect: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is my shirt.”

Baekhyun may have broad shoulders, but the shirt’s still too big for him. Sanghyuk’s mouth feels dry as he takes in the sight of Baekhyun’s collarbones peeking out from under the collar. “I was the one wearing it at the party,” he manages.

“And the one who left it in my room,” Baekhyun points out.

“You used it to clean up—”

“And then I washed it, and now it’s mine.” Baekhyun rubs at his shoulder, stretching the material further. Sanghyuk can see the edges of a bite mark he’d left last night. “Thanks.”

Sanghyuk had always made fun of the way Wonshik looks so pleased on the rare occasions that Zitao borrows his clothes. Now, he thinks, his fingers itching to touch, he’s starting to understand why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homecoming week starts with a bang—literally, as the door slams open when Kyungsoo returns to the house Monday evening, drawing Baekhyun’s attention away from the TV. This, he decides, is probably going to be more interesting.

“Where’s Jaehwan?” Kyungsoo demands.

“Kitchen,” Chanyeol says. “Why?”

Kyungsoo heads back there without another word. There’s a few thuds and clangs, a startled yell from Jongdae, and a loud, abruptly cut-off moan that is definitely Jaehwan.

Jongdae emerges from the kitchen looking traumatized. “I never needed to see that! Why is it always _me_?”

Ever the supportive best friends, Baekhyun and Chanyeol point and laugh. “So they’re back together?” Chanyeol asks. “Pay up.” 

“I’m moving in with Liyin,” Jongdae announces, shoving a twenty into Chanyeol’s open hand before dropping onto the couch next to him.

“You say that all the time,” Chanyeol says dismissively.

“And you could never leave me,” Baekhyun finishes for him, beaming at Jongdae, who looks even sulkier in the face of this undeniable truth.

He’s in a good mood all week. Baekhyun’s always loved Homecoming. (“School spirit is—very important—,” he’d explained between thrusts, listening contentedly to Sanghyuk moan around the Cartwright bandana they were using as a gag). This is his first one without Kris, but that doesn’t mean the week’s been any less fun.

He snaps a picture of the bonfire and sends it to Kris while he thinks of it. He’s a good little brother like that. _greetings from home_ , he adds underneath, piling on some emojis before he hits send.

“Remember when that was us?” Jongdae asks, nodding to where Sanghyuk and Sungjae are staring at their surroundings. “When everything was new and we couldn’t believe we were at college?”

“We were a little shorter, though,” Baekhyun points out.

“You know what I mean!” Jongdae elbows him, then sighs heavily. “And now we’re seniors. This is it. Our last bonfire.”

“You make it sound like we’re graduating tomorrow,” Baekhyun scoffs. “We have lots of time left.” 

“Soon you’re not going to be able to say that.”

Baekhyun parrots his words back to him, tugging at his arm when Jongdae whines. “Stop whining and _enjoy_ it.”

“You’ll have to face it—”

“Not tonight,” Baekhyun reminds him, and drags him over to some of the other brothers.

Sanghyuk’s been enjoying the week, too, and it becomes clear why when Baekhyun teases him about it as they all walk around. “We didn’t do anything like this at my high school,” he explains. “We were too small to even have sports teams.”

“Oh, right, _private school_ ,” Baekhyun says with a leer.

“Not after middle school. Small town, remember?”

“Oh, right.” Too small for Sanghyuk to find anyone to hook up with, which Baekhyun still can’t believe. Their loss, he thinks. _Definitely_ his gain. “How small?”

“We have one stoplight,” Sanghyuk says, and Baekhyun’s mouth drops open. “Logansburg seems huge in comparison.”

“Now _that’s_ sad.” Not that Logansburg is all that small—it’s a college town, after all. But like any good Cartwright student, Baekhyun has to complain about it.

“What about you, where are you from?”

“Horton.”

Sanghyuk does a double-take. “You’re only a couple hours from me,” he says.

“Really?”

“Yeah, we drive through there when we visit my grandparents.”

“What a small world,” Chanyeol says from behind them, and Baekhyun slows down so he can step on Chanyeol’s foot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We should make another bet,” Baekhyun says abruptly later that night.

“I like how you waited for the last game,” Sanghyuk says, pillowing his head on Baekhyun’s stomach. It’s so soft that it’s more than worth how tightly he has to curl up to do it. It’s one of the many things he likes about Baekhyun’s body, like how his shoulders are unexpectedly broad and his thighs are _amazing_ ; all of those and more are reasons why Sanghyuk would rather be in this bed with him than with anyone else in the house, or on campus, or maybe just anyone, full stop. Not that he’s dumb enough to say that out loud. He doesn’t want Baekhyun to get the wrong idea, or think that _Sanghyuk_ has the wrong idea. It’s easier to just mouth off. “Are you that nervous?”

“No, I’m trying to make it interesting,” Baekhyun debates, threading his fingers through Sanghyuk’s hair and tugging lightly.

“Thrilling,” Sanghyuk says around an exaggerated yawn. Baekhyun tugs again, harder this time, and Sanghyuk protests.

“Come on, say yes. Same terms as last time.”

“I never knew your terms,” Sanghyuk reminds him.

“They’re the same. Trust me.”

_Trust me_ , he’d urged days ago as he slipped the vibrator inside Sanghyuk, and Sanghyuk shudders again now. “All right, done,” he agrees.

“Good. Prepare to lose.”

“If you say so,” Sanghyuk says absently. Baekhyun swats his ass and Sanghyuk bites at his stomach in retaliation, pleased when he feels Baekhyun’s sharp inhale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not that Sanghyuk doesn’t play his hardest the next day. No one would dare do anything but, not with Minho and Taekwoon acting like it’s World War 3 instead of what’s supposed to be an informal house tournament. He’s just… not as upset by his team’s loss as he should be. As satisfying as it would have been to have another victory to hold over Baekhyun’s head, Minho’s team still has the most wins. Sanghyuk wouldn’t trade this outcome for the promising looks Baekhyun keeps sending his way on the trek back to the house. 

Baekhyun makes him wait for it—no surprise there—hurrying them both through the post-game shower and then being one of the last to stick around during the Halo session Jongin starts after they get back from dinner. Even after they’re in his room he takes his time, getting them both naked and just making out with him for what might possibly be the longest fifteen minutes of Sanghyuk’s life.

“We should’ve set up a time limit,” Sanghyuk pants at last as Baekhyun sucks a kiss into the crook of his neck. 

“I knew you’d crack,” Baekhyun says smugly, pulling back so he can grin down at Sanghyuk. “I’m winning everything today.”

“But _what_ are you winning?” Sanghyuk demands.

Baekhyun kisses him lightly and gets up. Sanghyuk’s hands reluctantly drop away from his ass. He watches Baekhyun cross the room to dig something out of his dresser, drinking in the sight of him. It still hits him, sometimes, how surreal this whole thing is; how he’s memorized every inch of Baekhyun with his eyes and hands and how there’s still weeks of this to come.

Baekhyun had grabbed something, but he keeps it hidden behind his back until he’s returned to the bed and straddled Sanghyuk’s lap, claiming a few teasing kisses before he’ll explain any further. “I thought we might try something new,” Baekhyun says, dangling a cock ring in front of him. Sanghyuk swallows, his gaze following its every move, and Baekhyun jacks him a few more times before slipping it around him.

“Think of this as your consolation prize,” Baekhyun tells him. “You won’t want this to end too early.”

“Are you ever going to let me live that down?” Sanghyuk grumbles as much as he can with Baekhyun’s hand on him.

Even through the haze, suspicion starts to dawn as Baekhyun rolls a condom onto _him_. “Baekhyun—” he begins.

Baekhyun grins at him, tightening his hand on Sanghyuk’s cock for a moment as he positions himself. “Ready?” he asks, and sinks down on his cock all at once before Sanghyuk can answer. 

Sanghyuk scrambles for purchase, can’t get a grip on the sheets or on how his senses go haywire; too much heat, too much pressure, bombarded with everything too fast to get a handle on any of it.

"Breathe, Sanghyuk," Baekhyun coaxes, comforting (and breathy, Sanghyuk noticed with a stunned sense of pride) tone at odds with the way he immediately _clenches_ around him, like it wasn’t already too much. “And _move_.” He swats Sanghyuk’s ass and he lifts his hips automatically, does his best to fall into the pace Baekhyun sets.

" _Breathe_ ," Sanghyuk echoes in disbelief at last, once he can say something coherent. "Maybe you--should've warned me."

"You didn’t like being surprised?"

“I don’t know. _Baekhyun_.” He’d thought Baekhyun’s mouth was hot but that has nothing, _nothing_ on this. Even through the condom it’s still almost too much. He can’t let himself imagine what it would be like without. And Baekhyun won’t stop, won’t slow down, whimpering continually, hands braced on the mattress.

“Fuck, I knew you’d feel like this. I knew it would be—so good, Hyuk.” He changes the angle, just enough that his voice almost immediately gets even higher and Sanghyuk knows he must be brushing against Baekhyun’s prostate, a suspicion confirmed when Baekhyun speeds up until it feels like he’s all but bouncing on Sanghyuk’s cock.

“I need—your hand, come on, make me come—” Baekhyun grabs at his wrist and Sanghyuk reaches forward, obediently tugging at his cock and biting open-mouthed kisses along Baekhyun’s neck just to hear him moan. It’s Baekhyun’s victory, he remembers, and he wants to give Baekhyun everything he asks for.

But it’s hard to focus like this, even with the ring holding back the orgasm so desperate to rip through him. Baekhyun ends up covering his hand with his own, rocking into them both until Sanghyuk feels him spill through their fingers, wailing as Sanghyuk’s hips keep snapping up. 

Baekhyun starts to reach for Sanghyuk’s face, then realizes it’s with his messy hand and laughs brokenly. Before he can pull back Sanghyuk grabs his wrist and sucks two fingers into his mouth, remembering how it had felt when Baekhyun did this to him. Baekhyun makes a sound like he’s been kicked in the gut as Sanghyuk fucks upwards harder, swirling his tongue around Baekhyun’s fingers and hoping he’s doing _something_ right, that he’s making Baekhyun feel half as good as he does. The taste isn’t _good_ , but he’s so far gone and the wonder in Baekhyun’s eyes makes everything more than worth it.

“Okay, okay, hold on.” Baekhyun lifts up, finally takes off the ring, giving Sanghyuk only a few seconds to take in the sudden rush of blood before he sinks back down, Sanghyuk crying out from the shock of sensations, even stronger now that the end is in sight. It only takes a few thrusts before Sanghyuk grips Baekhyun’s hips and comes hard, Baekhyun fucking him through it until Sanghyuk is spent.

Sanghyuk collapses back, draping his forearm over his eyes as he gasps for breath, vaguely aware of Baekhyun sprawling on his chest. “Have I ever mentioned how glad I am you decided to pledge Kappa Tau?” Baekhyun manages to ask, lips moving against his skin, and Sanghyuk laughs breathlessly.

“You never show it. You should try again.”

“I want to be able to _walk_ tomorrow.”

Sanghyuk can’t help letting his hand trail down to Baekhyun’s entrance, where he can still feel the lube slick at the edge. “I can’t believe—when did you even have time to do this?” Just the thought of Baekhyun prepping himself, thinking about how he’d let Sanghyuk fuck him later…

“I’m magic,” Baekhyun says smugly.

“Next time…” Sanghyuk slips two fingers inside, pleased when Baekhyun whimpers, “can I watch? Or help?”

“It would be a good—experience.”

It’s been a few weeks since Baekhyun had Sanghyuk try this, but he thinks he remembers; becomes more confident as Baekhyun’s hips slowly rock back, his cock starting to stiffen again against Sanghyuk’s stomach, but he still asks, “Is this okay?”

Baekhyun huffs out something that might have been a laugh, the sound falling apart completely when Sanghyuk adds a third finger; the angle’s awkward on his wrist, but he’s not going to stop now. “It’s good.”

“How do I—?”

“Angle them, just—“ Sanghyuk crooks them, feels them catch on Baekhyun’s prostate just as Baekhyun moans and his hips move faster, “—like that.”

Sanghyuk can’t even remember which of them won anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"You know what we should do for Halloween," Jongin begins during an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and everyone but Sanghyuk groans.

"Still?" Chanyeol demands.

"He's never going to stop," Taemin says knowingly.

"What?" Sanghyuk asks.

"A Heroes and Villains mixer," Jongin explains, disentangling himself from Taemin on the floor and sitting up to focus on Sanghyuk. "Everyone dresses as a different superhero or villain. It'll be awesome."

Sanghyuk hesitates, wondering if he’s completely missing something. “But… don’t you all like superheroes, too? Why don’t we do it?”

"It's mostly just fun to watch him get mad when we say no," Chanyeol explains.

“But it would be _really cool_ ,” Jongin insists. “Don’t you think so, Hyuk?” When Sanghyuk nods, Jongin immediately looks at Chanyeol. "See?”

"Oh, right, a pledge wants to, we have to do it now."

"It's on the list, Jongin," Jongdae says kindly.

"Actually," Baekhyun says, sitting up and leaving Sanghyuk’s side cold where he’d been curled against him on the couch (to _conserve space_ , Baekhyun always says, though he ends up using it as an opportunity to get some groping in more often than not), "what are you going to wear? Because, I mean, I could make this happen."

Jongin rolls his eyes, but now Taemin looks intrigued, too. "Yeah, we should do it," he says, and Jongin startles.

"Really?" Jongin asks warily.

" _If_ I can pick your costume."

Jongin visibly hesitates. "As long as it's not Robin," he says at last.

"Fine." Now Taemin sits up, beckoning for Baekhyun to come over. When he does, Taemin murmurs something to Baekhyun, who lights up.

"What?" Jongin asks, but they ignore him.

"You’re a genius,” Baekhyun tells Taemin, who preens. 

" _What_?" Jongin demands again.

Baekhyun pats his head. "Your idea was pretty good, too."

Jongin drops his head into his hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem with a Heroes and Villains mixer, Sanghyuk quickly realizes, is that there are too many choices.

“You’d make a good Hawkeye,” Baekhyun says when he mentions this to him. “You have nice arms.” He strokes his hand quickly along one, and Sanghyuk smiles.

“I could get a fake bow and quiver somewhere.”

“Ooh, _quiver._ ”

“Read it in the Chronicles of Narnia,” Sanghyuk says with a shrug, ignoring Baekhyun’s not-so-subtle cough of _“nerd!”_ “What about you? Iron Man?”

Baekhyun begins to answer, then pauses, a grin spreading across his face. Given that the last time he looked like that Sanghyuk wound up very thoroughly crossing ‘sex toys’ off the to-do list, he’s not sure if he wants to lean in or away. “You’ll see,” Baekhyun says.

Sanghyuk can’t get another word out of him, no matter how hard he tries, but he sees for himself the night of the mixer. Baekhyun catches his eye as soon as he enters the room. Maybe it should concern him a little that he can recognize Baekhyun by his thighs, but he’s too busy focusing on them, then on the black spandex suit, the red curly wig, and—

By the time Baekhyun turns around, it’s finally sunk in—Baekhyun’s shown up dressed as the Black Widow.

“Cute,” Wonshik says with a laugh. “You guys match.”

“I didn’t know." Knowing Baekhyun, this could just be him claiming the center of attention, but he _was_ the one to suggest that Sanghyuk be Hawkeye…

“I should’ve done that,” Jaehwan says enviously. “I’d look great.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Kyungsoo says firmly.

“Look at my ass! I could so be an Avenger!” Jaehwan insists.

Wonshik nudges Sanghyuk. “Why are you still here? Go say hi.”

Right. Sanghyuk is completely capable of talking right now. Sure.

He _can_ walk, though he does maybe almost run into a few people on his way. Baekhyun catches his eye halfway, gives him a huge, self-satisfied smile that makes Sanghyuk almost sure that this has nothing to do with him. Almost. 

“No autographs, no flash photography,” Baekhyun says once Sanghyuk’s in earshot, holding up his hands as if to ward such things off.

“Then what can I have?” Sanghyuk asks.

“You?” Baekhyun’s eyes, perfectly outlined with dark eyeliner, trail up and down his frame, the sheer appreciation in them making Sanghyuk feel weirdly flustered despite the fact that he’s spent more nights in Baekhyun’s bed than his own this semester. “I can think of a few things.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun’s so glad he gave in to this mixer idea, and not just because Jongin had arrived a little while ago in the skintight Spider-man costume Taemin had promised. (Though he hasn't given Baekhyun the time of day yet. Taemin had arrived a little while ago dressed as Batman, and not even his insistence on speaking in the raspy, Christian Bale voice is stopping Jongin from staring at him continually, eyes wide and lips parted, like it's the best thing that's ever happened to him.)

Next time, Baekhyun tells himself, he’ll talk Sanghyuk into dancing. Until then he’s out with Jongdae and Chanyeol, all three of them dancing like idiots.

“And you’re the straight one,” Baekhyun scoffs, wrapping an arm around Jongdae’s waist as Jongdae leans back against him, hips swaying.

“Hey, I’m dancing with the prettiest girl here,” Jongdae returns, and laughs loudly when Baekhyun kisses his cheek. “Where’s your date?”

“My what?”

“Your date!” Chanyeol says, voice booming over the music. “Hyuk!”

Baekhyun frowns. “He’s not my date, he’s my protégé.”

“But you’re wearing couple’s costumes!”

“It’s not a couple’s costume,” Baekhyun says impatiently. “He didn’t even know who I was going as until tonight. No one did.” He’d even evaded Donghae’s questions when he’d borrowed the wig.

“Did you know his?” Jongdae asks, and laughs when Baekhyun doesn’t have a retort. “Come on, it’s cute!”

“Hawkeye and the Black Widow aren’t even a real couple.”

“And neither are you two? All right, whatever you say.”

“I wasn’t trying to make some huge statement,” Baekhyun grumbles. “I just wanted to look hot.”

Chanyeol pats him on the head. “Congratulations, you did both!”

Baekhyun isn’t nearly drunk enough for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk loses track of Baekhyun for a while. He catches glimpses here and there—Baekhyun dancing between two ZBZs; pouring a drink into Chanyeol’s mouth; arms around Jongdae as they yell along to the music.

By the time their paths cross again, Sanghyuk is with Hongbin on the half of the couch he’s commandeered, although Hongbin jumps up when Baekhyun plants himself on Sanghyuk’s lap, straddling his waist and shoving a drink at him. Baekhyun’s traded the wig for a headband with devil horns somewhere. Of course he has.

“Did it switch to a Heaven and Hell mixer?” Sanghyuk asks, tapping one of the horns.

“I can make it any kind of party I want,” Baekhyun tells him, leaning in closer. “I’m social chair. And you need to drink.” He brandishes it, insistent, and Sanghyuk starts when some splashes over the side. “ _Drink_.”

“All right, all right.” Sanghyuk takes the cup and downs it, though he nearly chokes when Baekhyun starts kissing his throat.

As soon as he’s done, Baekhyun whisks the cup out of his hand and switches to kissing his mouth. “More,” he says insistently between kisses, free hand tangling in Sanghyuk’s hair. “You should-“

Sanghyuk is pretty sure he won’t need more; this is enough to have his head already spinning. “Okay, okay,” he says, hardly aware of his own words or of anything but Baekhyun. He can’t keep his hands still, running them restlessly along Baekhyun’s thighs. 

“We should--wear these every day,” Baekhyun says, breath catching as Sanghyuk kisses his way down his neck.

“They’d smell,” Sanghyuk mumbles against his skin.

“You’re no fun.”

“I’m lots of fun,” he debates, punctuating it with a quick bite.

Baekhyun tugs on his hair until Sanghyuk looks up at him. “Prove it.”

Sanghyuk makes a mental note to nominate Jongin for social chair next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk wakes up half off the bed, cheek pillowed on Baekhyun’s stomach. Sanghyuk’s head is pounding, his neck is sore, he doesn’t even want to think about what’s on his face, and, of course, he’s pretty sure something decomposed in his mouth. Maybe his dignity.

“If you’re gonna puke, there’s a trash can… somewhere…” Baekhyun croaks above him. Sanghyuk groans, sliding to the side.

“’m never getting drunk in spandex again,” he mumbles, fingers scrabbling half-heartedly at his now-sticky, sweltering top in a feeble attempt to peel it off his skin.

Eventually he drags himself out of bed, making a promise to bring Baekhyun coffee that he almost immediately forgets, and down to the kitchen. There are a handful of hungover Kappa Taus and even a few ZBZs milling around; more people than Sanghyuk had expected to see, given how hammered everyone had been by the time Baekhyun had dragged Sanghyuk upstairs.

Hongbin corners him almost immediately, eyes bloodshot and even wider than usual. “Hyuk, I need you to tell me something,” he begins.

“No, your Instagram doesn’t need pictures of every leaf on campus,” Sanghyuk mumbles, downing his coffee.

Hongbin ignores him. “Did I make out with Zitao last night?”

Thankfully Sanghyuk had finished drinking before Hongbin said that, though he considers choking out of principle. “Did you _what_?”

“I don’t know! I was so drunk, I don’t—but I definitely—and I swear I remember Zitao, but I could have hallucinated it or—”

“Hallucinated what?” Jaehwan asks, boosting himself onto the counter next to them. In sharp contrast to everyone else, he looks even more cheerful than usual.

“Making out with Zitao,” Sanghyuk says, ignoring how Hongbin promptly hits his arm.

“That definitely happened,” Taemin intones as he passes by, _still_ using the Batman voice.

Hongbin groans, leaning down on the counter and hiding his face against his arms, and Jaehwan pats his hair. “Hasn’t anyone sent you pictures yet?” Jaehwan asks him.

“But—he’s—Wonshik—“

Jaehwan cuts him off with a laugh. “Yeah, Wonshik took more pictures than anybody. Don’t worry about him.”

“I need to transfer.”

“Hongbin—” Sanghyuk begins, somehow tamping down his own laughter as he pats Hongbin’s arm.

“I’ve always wanted to live in Boston—”

“Hongbin!” Jaehwan tugs him upright, then cups his face in his hands, ignoring Hongbin’s grimace. “They want you. Make it happen. Cross it off your college bucket list.” Jaehwan kisses his forehead and Hongbin ducks out of his grip with an indignant noise. “Go transform into a beautiful butterfly—”

“Are you high?” Sanghyuk asks suspiciously.

“On _love_ ,” Jaehwan says, fluttering his lashes, then adds, “And on how Kyungsoo still does this thing with—”

“ _No_ ,” Sanghyuk and Hongbin chorus. They’d heard enough of Jaehwan’s Kyungsoo stories the _first_ time those two were together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk puts the whole thing—and the ensuing brain-scarring details about Jaehwan and Kyungsoo’s night that follow—out of his mind. Well, until the next morning, when he passes by Wonshik and Zitao's door just as it opens and _Hongbin_ comes out, mussed and marked and only wearing a pair of jeans, as if he’d really thought he could make it back to his room without getting caught.

They blink at each other. "Why don't you wear a shirt anymore," Sanghyuk mimics at last, snickering as Hongbin flings the one he’s carrying at him.


	4. part four

Time’s running out, Baekhyun catches himself thinking as he finishes registering for his spring classes. He dismisses the idea as quickly as it arrived. He refuses to turn into Jongdae. There’s plenty of time left, in the year and in the semester.

And with Sanghyuk, he thinks later that night, as he’s sprawled across Sanghyuk’s chest. Between the combined warmth of the blankets wrapped around them and the reassuring rhythm of Sanghyuk’s heartbeat beneath his ear, his eyes are starting to close. “What classes are you taking?” he asks.

“Um… the ethics seminar, U.S. Government, fitness... maybe another language.”

“You didn’t test out of those?”

“For French, yeah.” He feels Sanghyuk shrug. “I want to try something new.”

“Three languages would look good on a resume.”

“Four. Raised to speak Korean, too.” Sanghyuk lifts his head and looks at Baekhyun, faint curiosity in them. “Do you?”

“Mm, enough to get by, I guess.” Baekhyun isn’t even sure of that anymore, come to think of it. It’s been a few years since he’s gone to visit family in Korea, always having been too busy with school or summer jobs.

That makes Sanghyuk smile. “So I know more about something than you do?”

“You can teach me next semester, Professor Han.”

“I like the sound of that,” Sanghyuk says around a yawn.

Baekhyun has to admit, he likes the thought of having a set reason to keep seeing Sanghyuk other than for frat events. He pillows his chin on his folded hands, waking up a little as he thinks the idea over. “I bet your syllabus won’t be as interesting as mine, though.”

“Tell you what,” Sanghyuk murmurs, stroking a hand through Baekhyun’s hair, “maybe when you do really well, I’ll let you spell out the characters on my ass.”

“With my tongue?” Baekhyun asks hopefully, and Sanghyuk smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Awww, Hyuk updated his Instagram,” Jaehwan coos at lunch, turning his phone around so that Baekhyun—and Jongdae, who’s sitting next to him—can see.

“Cute,” Baekhyun says, because it’s true. Sanghyuk _is_ cute.

Jongdae laughs. “Of course you think that.”

“What?”

“He means because of how you two weirdly look alike sometimes,” Jaehwan clarifies.

Baekhyun takes a closer look, intrigued. “You think so?”

“God, you’re so into that.” Jongdae shakes his head. “How vain are you?”

“Is it really vanity when I look like this?” Baekhyun asks, fluttering his lashes as he rests his chin in his hands and leans in close to Jongdae, who laughs and pushes him away.

When he relays the conversation to Sanghyuk while they’re texting that afternoon, Sanghyuk’s immediate response is, _we shld use hongbins mirror to check._

_what?_

_he has this full length mirror ull see_

Baekhyun laughs. He can see why Hongbin didn’t let everyone know about that, since he can easily think of a number of brothers who would’ve given him plenty of shit for just what he could use that mirror for, but Baekhyun will spare him. After all, it’s going to come in very handy. _this is why I keep u arnd_ , Baekhyun tells Sanghyuk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They really had only meant to look at themselves, but things had gotten… a little out of hand.

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun says, tightening his grip on Sanghyuk’s hips as he studies their reflections. “Like… around the eyes?” 

He punctuates the suggestion with another roll of his hips and has to close his eyes for a second. Seeing them both like this, not just how everything he does affects Sanghyuk but how they look _together_ —he can’t believe he’s never tried this before. Maybe he should invest in one of these mirrors, too, he thinks as he leans in and nips at the vertebrae of Sanghyuk’s spine, feels Sanghyuk’s cock throb in his hand and watches himself tug at Sanghyuk’s length faster. Jongdae and Chanyeol’s mockery would be more than worth getting to do this on a regular basis.

“Maybe-” A particularly well-aimed thrust has Sanghyuk’s fingers curling where his hands are braced against the door to either side of the mirror, like he’s searching for purchase. “Your face can be—what’s it—disproportionate? So if we’re-”

“You think my face is disproportionate?”

“Your dick’s dispro— _ah_ -”

Sanghyuk’s head drops with a groan, a telltale sign that he’s close, so Baekhyun momentarily lets go of Sanghyuk’s cock in favor of gripping Sanghyuk’s hair and pulling his head back upright. “You have to watch,” Baekhyun tells him, nipping at his earlobe. Sanghyuk gasps as Baekhyun’s thrusts speed up. “Look at us, babe, we—look so hot together, you can’t miss this, come on-”

Sanghyuk moans, grabbing at Baekhyun’s wrist, and then he sways forward, knees buckling, and he’s coming with a cry, _untouched_ , the sheer hotness of it momentarily paralyzing Baekhyun. He refocuses quickly enough and jerks Sanghyuk off through the rest of it, and it’s not long before Baekhyun comes, too, slumping against Sanghyuk’s broad back.

Once they’ve recovered, they regard the mess on Hongbin’s mirror in silence. “He’s going to kill me,” Sanghyuk predicts at last.

“We can clean it up,” Baekhyun says, patting Sanghyuk’s ass reassuringly. “That’s what kleenex are for.”

“I thought they were for stopping this from happening in the first place.”

“I only have so many hands,” Baekhyun points out, and lets his hand slide around to Sanghyuk’s hip, rubbing small circles with his thumb and enjoying how he can feel the shiver shoot through Sanghyuk and see how he has to close his eyes, just for a moment. “Besides, I got—distracted.”

“Shut up.”

Baekhyun doesn’t, of course. “I thought for a second there you were going to pass out,” he says, downright gleeful when he sees Sanghyuk’s ears turn red. “And I wasn’t even touching you. I _am_ good.”

“It wasn’t _you_ , it was—what you were saying.”

“Exactly.” Baekhyun smirks. “We both know how much you’ve always liked my mouth.”

Sanghyuk grimaces, stepping deliberately on Baekhyun’s foot. “Stop talking about it.”

“Don’t worry, it was hot.”

“Nobody’s hot when they come,” Sanghyuk says dismissively, as if he’s the one with years of experience under his belt. Or maybe Wonshik and Jaehwan’s porn collections are even more extensive than Baekhyun had guessed.

Baekhyun feigns astonishment. “Not even me?”

“You look like a dying fish.” Sanghyuk makes a series of increasingly grotesque faces until Baekhyun presses open-mouthed kisses along his spine, biting down every so often to hear Sanghyuk whimper. Sanghyuk’s so self-possessed that times like this are Baekhyun’s only chance to unravel him. It’s not what he’d expected during those months Sanghyuk had just been Hongbin’s cute high school friend whose gaze had followed Baekhyun every time they were in a room together.

“Maybe you should give me another chance to look,” Baekhyun says, one hand reaching around to grasp Sanghyuk’s cock as he meets Sanghyuk’s stunned gaze in the mirror.

“But—”

“Hongbin’s in class all day, right? We have time.”

Sanghyuk considers. “Depends on what else we can use the time for,” he says, expression challenging, and Baekhyun grins. One thing’s for sure; between the two of them, they’re never going to run out of ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk has dinner with Sungjae and Donggeun, then goes back to Baekhyun’s room for the night. He’s only been there a few minutes, not even long enough for either of them to take off their shirts, when Hongbin bursts in, startling them into springing apart. "Hyuk," Hongbin says darkly.

" _Hongbin_ ," Sanghyuk mimics.

Hongbin's eyes narrow. "My room smells like Febreeze-”

"You cleaned?" Baekhyun cuts in, smiling brightly. "Good job, Hongbin!"

Hongbin gives him a sharp look, then continues, "-and my mirror has fingerprints on it. I cleaned it _yesterday_ and it was perfect before I left this morning." 

"And?" Sanghyuk asks.

"And Chanshik saw you coming out of my room! I know it was you two!"

"Know what was us?" Baekhyun asks. 

"Don't--you know what I mean!"

Baekhyun tsks. "This is a fraternity, not a kindergarten. If you can't say it then you can't be having this conversation, Hongbin."

Hongbin turns crimson but forces out, “You—you had sex in front of my mirror!” 

The sheer distaste in his voice has Sanghyuk breaking, bursting into laughter even under Baekhyun's disapproving look. "Come on, I was going to point out that he could have done it himself," Baekhyun chides Sanghyuk, lightly cuffing the back of his head.

"I wouldn't!" Hongbin bursts out.

“You never know,” Baekhyun says serenely, spreading his hands. “You could be selling nudes for extra money, or sending them to Wonshik-”

“I wouldn’t—that was just-” Hongbin turns bright red, frustration turning to something else that has Sanghyuk sobering. He knows Hongbin’s getting tired of being teased about hooking up with Wonshik and Zitao. And while giving him a hard time is fun, Sanghyuk doesn’t want to push his best friend this far.

"Hey, I'll get you a new mirror from Target or something, okay?" Sanghyuk offers. 

The disdainful look he gets in response beats that mix of horror and vulnerability any day. " _Target_?"

"At least it's not Wal-Mart." Hongbin actually shudders at that, like he didn’t grow up in a town where the local Wal-Mart was the best hangout spot they had, and Sanghyuk snorts. "You're such a snob. How did you make it through eighteen years back home?"

"I left for a reason," Hongbin reminds him.

Baekhyun keeps quiet as Hongbin and Sanghyuk talk. When Hongbin leaves, before Sanghyuk can pick back up where they left off Baekhyun asks, "So when do you want to go?" 

Sanghyuk blinks, hands going still halfway up Baekhyun’s torso. "Go where?"

"To get his mirror."

"You're coming with me?"

Baekhyun shrugs a shoulder. "Yeah, sure. We can put our expertise to use."

"Good point. We're, like, mirror connoisseurs now."

"Exactly," Baekhyun says with an approving pat, linking his leg around Sanghyuk’s to press close to him.

"Though we’ll need a different way to test them," Sanghyuk says, laughing as Baekhyun raises his eyebrows suggestively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk’s phone goes off and he opens the message, rolling his eyes when he sees Baekhyun’s been renamed ‘teenage wet dream’ in his contacts list. Jaehwan must have gotten ahold of his phone again.

_busy tnite sry_

As much as he wishes otherwise, the words aren’t a surprise. He’s been getting messages like that for three days now. He knows Baekhyun’s in the middle of a huge project, and that he’s been lucky to get as much time with Baekhyun this semester as he has given that it’s Baekhyun’s senior year, but he was still hoping for better news.

Then, just as Sanghyuk’s pang of disappointment has started to fade, Baekhyun sends another text. _sleep here tho?_

Sanghyuk’s spent the last four nights in his own bed, possibly the most consecutive amount since midterms. No being jolted awake by Baekhyun’s weird puppy noises, no waking up sore from lying on his arm half the night, no jostling for space. Having the bed to himself is overrated, he’s decided; not to mention how he has to listen to his iPod every night to keep from hearing Sungjae and Donggeun on the other side of the room (Donggeun had awkwardly promised that they’d behave whenever Sanghyuk slept there, but Sanghyuk had noticed the unholy light in Sungjae’s eyes and known better than to believe it). 

_yeah_ , he texts back, smiling to himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk decides to go by the house early anyway, for dinner that’s not cafeteria food and just to hang out. And to talk to Jaehwan about messing with his phone.

Jaehwan, of course, is anything but sorry. “Well he is, isn’t he? I was there last year.” He puts on a breathless voice. “’Jaehwan? Jaehwan, who’s that? Jaehwan, he’s so hot, I’m going to marry him-'”

Sanghyuk elbows him. “I didn’t say that!”

“It was implied,” Jaehwan insists.

“What was?” Amber asks as she joins them, hip-checking Jaehwan.

“Nothing,” Sanghyuk says quickly.

“Liar,” she chides, but that doesn’t stop her from taking his arm. “Come on, we need one more for Smash Brothers.”

He hesitates, but it’s not like he has anything else to do right now, given that he still hasn’t heard from Baekhyun since his earlier texts. “Okay.”

It’s another hour before Baekhyun wanders into the room, perching on the arm of the couch where Sanghyuk’s sitting. "Who’s winning?" Baekhyun asks, absently stroking Sanghyuk’s hair.

“Me!” Amber says, raising her controller triumphantly.

“Definitely not Hyuk,” Wonshik adds.

Sanghyuk rolls his eyes. "I’d be doing better if I didn’t have to get up every three minutes for-”

"Pledge! Refill!" Jackson calls as if on cue, not looking away from the screen.

"That," Sanghyuk finishes, rising to his feet with a dramatic sigh.

"That’ll be over before you know it, little pledge," Baekhyun assures him, patting his ass as he walks away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_done_ , Baekhyun texts two hours and three game changes later, and Sanghyuk immediately hands his controller to Wonshik.

“Use protection!” Wonshik calls after him.

His advice proves irrelevant, given that it’s not long before yet another yawn from Baekhyun makes Sanghyuk stop kissing along his neck in favor of looking up at him. “It’s not you, I promise,” Baekhyun says quickly, wrinkling his nose. “I’m so—this presentation’s kicking my ass.”

Sanghyuk frowns. Baekhyun’s worked hard all semester, they both have, but he hasn’t seen him this worn down since midterms. “Do you want me to go?” 

“No, you help,” Baekhyun insists, his hands tightening their grip where they’re tucked into Sanghyuk’s back pockets. “I just—I need a nap or something.”

Sanghyuk nuzzles his neck. “Just go to sleep. I don’t have class until 10, remember?” Baekhyun grumbles something and Sanghyuk laughs. “Maybe I’ll wake you up.”

“ _Maybe_?” Baekhyun asks with an exaggerated pout, and Sanghyuk leans in to kiss it away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hakyeon and Taekwoon don’t come to frat parties very often anymore, so Sanghyuk is surprised when they walk through the door of this one.

“Did you know they were coming?” he asks Hongbin.

“No, did you?” 

They don’t have time to discuss it further, since Hakyeon waves them both over. Wonshik catches up on their way, and Sanghyuk notices the way he takes Hongbin’s hand in both of his, and the way Hongbin startles, but decides not to mention it. Things have been weird there during the last few weeks, and Sanghyuk’s _not_ getting involved.

"Seungho found a job for Taekwoon!" Hakyeon announces as soon as they’re all in earshot.

"An interview," Taekwoon says, his quiet voice a marked contrast to Hakyeon’s nearly shrill tone.

"That’ll lead to a job! Of course they'll hire you! Who wouldn't?" Hakyeon kisses his cheek loudly, then continues, "It’s for a company out in California! Isn't that great?"

"That's... really far away," Sanghyuk manages. No wonder Hakyeon's looking manic around the eyes.

"It'll be fine! Everything will be fine! Taekwoon will have a job, and I'll be here until I get my degree, and it'll be fine!”

"I haven't decided if I’d say yes yet," Taekwoon murmurs.

Hakyeon pats his arm. "Don’t be silly, of course you’ll say yes."

"Are you okay?" Wonshik asks him, brow furrowed.

"Of course! That's why we're here! To celebrate!" Hakyeon looks around. "Where are the drinks? Taekwoon, let's get drinks." 

"Hakyeon-”

"Come on!" Hakyeon interrupts brightly, towing him away. "You, too, Wonshik!"

Hongbin and Sanghyuk look at each other. "Indulging underage drinking," Sanghyuk says gravely. "He's freaking out."

"We'll know it's really bad if he brings one back for you,” Hongbin says, and Sanghyuk shudders at the thought.

Whether because Hakyeon's announcing it to everyone who so much as looks at them or because Kappa Tau is made up of a bunch of gossips, word about Taekwoon’s interview seems to have spread throughout the party within five minutes. 

"Don't worry, they know not to let Hakyeon near the tequila," Baekhyun assures Hongbin when he joins them, wrapping an arm around Sanghyuk’s waist. He pauses, tilting his head as if to consider. “Well. I think they do. It’s been a while.”

"What happens when he drinks tequila?" Sanghyuk asks, and Hongbin shakes his head.

"Don't ask," Baekhyun advises him. "Besides, more for us if you want to take some upstairs."

This has to be the first time that Sanghyuk hasn’t leaped at Baekhyun’s suggestion to leave a party early, he thinks wryly. But… "Should we? I mean, Hakyeon-”

"Hakyeon has a lot of babysitters," Baekhyun says. "He’ll be fine. Hungover but fine.” 

“And if you leave now you can miss him dancing," Hongbin adds.

"Wait, maybe we should stay," Baekhyun says, craning his neck to look over where Hakyeon is downing drinks at the bar.

"Do I want to ask?" Sanghyuk asks.

"No," Hongbin says, eyes widening warningly, at the same time Baekhyun rhapsodizes, " _Stripper dancing_."

Sanghyuk grimaces. "Don't say that, he's my second mom!"

But Baekhyun sighs happily and nudges Hongbin. "Remember that time he was on his hands and knees, shaking his-”

Hongbin shudders. “I never want to think about that again.”

"Oh! Did you ever hear about that time he was pole dancing—using Chanyeol as the pole?"

"This is the worst party ever," Sanghyuk says numbly, and Baekhyun takes one look at his horrified face, then cracks up laughing.

As if they’d jinxed it, it’s less than an hour before Taekwoon leaves the room and Hakyeon takes the opportunity to—well, ruin Sanghyuk’s life. The mental images Baekhyun’s stories had given him were already bad enough. He’d never, _ever_ needed to know Hakyeon could contort his body that fluidly. 

Grimacing, he buries his face in Hongbin’s shoulder. “Let me know when he’s stopped,” he says piteously, and feels Baekhyun pat his back. Given that Baekhyun’s also wolf-whistling, Sanghyuk doesn’t appreciate the gesture as much as he otherwise might have.

It can’t even be a minute before Hongbin mutters, “Oh, shit,” and Sanghyuk looks up in time to see Taekwoon push his way through the crowd, pulling Hakyeon to his feet. Taekwoon says something to Wonshik, expression dark, and Wonshik responds, hands spread and eyes wide. 

“Probably asking why he didn’t stop Hakyeon,” Hongbin says. “Like Hakyeon ever listens to anyone but Taekwoon.”

Taekwoon says something to Hakyeon, who stops struggling and nods. “I’ll be right back!” Hakyeon announces, loud enough that most of Greek Row can probably hear him, and Wonshik has to dodge Hakyeon’s arm as he waves. “Chanyeol, find my blindfold!” 

Sanghyuk groans and drops his face into his hands. “Worst. Party. Ever.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk isn't especially looking for them, or anyone, when he comes across Hakyeon and Taekwoon in a secluded corner of the house not ten minutes later, their arms around each other and heads bent close together. Taekwoon’s murmuring something and Hakyeon is shaking, Sanghyuk can see it even from the doorway.

He backs away before either of them can notice him, swallows past the lump quickly forming in his throat. He's never seen Hakyeon this unhappy before. Mad, yes, but not...

It’s hard to want to party after that. He’s on his way to the front door when Baekhyun grabs his arm, startling him. He must have been really out of it if he hadn’t even noticed Baekhyun approaching. "You okay?" Baekhyun asks, scrutinizing him.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go. Homework. And stuff."

Baekhyun shakes his head. "You weren't even trying," he chides him, though not unkindly.

"Sorry,” Sanghyuk says half-heartedly, and Baekhyun’s hand slips down to entwine with his.

"Look. Taekwoon's with him right now, right?" Sanghyuk nods. "They'll be fine. So will you. Come on, dance with me."

"I don't know how," Sanghyuk reminds him.

"All the things I've taught you and you're doubting me now?" Baekhyun squeezes his hand, smiling winningly up at him. "Come on, trust me."

Sanghyuk does trust him, and Baekhyun takes the night as yet another opportunity to prove why, keeping him occupied with drinks and dance lessons and then bringing him upstairs for the night. Which is just as well, given how Sanghyuk feels more comfortable in Baekhyun’s bed than he does in his own. That’s something he’ll need to think about later, maybe, but not while he has his arms tight around Baekhyun, listening to him gasp as Sanghyuk fucks into him hard and relentless, the way he’s needed to, on some level he can’t explain, for most of the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What’s up?” Baekhyun asks once they can think again, carding a hand through Sanghyuk’s sweaty hair, because there’s no way Sanghyuk should still be brooding after _that_. Sanghyuk shrugs, biting his lip, which Baekhyun takes as his cue to bite it for him. “Are you still worrying about Hakyeon?”

“Kind of? I mean, it’s stupid. I guess I looked forward to Cartwright for so long... I just didn’t expect anything to change. Not yet, anyway.”

“People graduate, Hyuk. They get jobs, they move on.” He thinks wistfully of Kris, of Lu Han and Minseok and Joonmyun and even Jonghyun. He used to see them all every day, and now only hears from them a few times a month, if that.

“Yeah, I know.” Sanghyuk takes a breath. “I guess you will, soon, too.”

Baekhyun can’t read his face, or maybe he just doesn’t want to. It’s not the first time he’s thought about his plans after graduation, not even the first time today, but talking about it to anyone feels strange. Especially Sanghyuk.

“Actually, I had an internship in Baltimore last summer, and I think they’ll offer me a job,” he says carefully, and Sanghyuk goes still, staring so intensely at him that Baekhyun can feel it long after he’s looked away. “I liked it there, and I’ll still be close to my family, and here, so.” Less than an hour from Cartwright, when traffic’s okay, anyway. That’s always been an important consideration, since he’ll still want to come back and visit Chanyeol and Kyungsoo and—well. Other people.

“Oh. That’s—I’m glad you’ll get what you want.”

“I usually do,” Baekhyun says, forcing himself to sound cheerful. “Speaking of…” He leans down, tugging Sanghyuk’s head back just to make him groan, and kisses him again, licks his way into his mouth and hums, pleased, when Sanghyuk rolls him onto his back, straddling his waist and reaching down between them. Much better than wherever that conversation was going to go, he decides before he gives up on thinking at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's one side effect to Hakyeon and Taekwoon’s news that nobody saw coming.

Baekhyun wakes up suddenly the next night, reaching for Sanghyuk on autopilot only to remember that he’s sleeping in his dorm room for once. It takes a few seconds for the pounding on the door to register. 

Baekhyun checks the clock--four in the morning, and he has a ten o'clock class. If it's Chanyeol again he's going to kill him, he thinks, rubbing his eyes.

But when he shuffles to the door he finds it's not Chanyeol. It's Zitao, eyes swollen and face streaked with tears.

"Tao?" Baekhyun asks, abruptly awake. "What's up?"

"I broke up with Wonshik," Zitao croaks, sobbing as he wraps his arms around Baekhyun and collapses forward. Zitao sometimes forgets how much bigger than some of the brothers he is, but it's okay. Baekhyun's always been able to support him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It takes a while for Zitao to cry it out, curled up tight against Baekhyun once Baekhyun leads him to bed, and even longer for him to calm down and explain himself. Baekhyun waits it out, holding him and rubbing his back and passing him all the tissues he needs. 

“This thing with Hakyeon and Taekwoon,” Zitao says at last, voice long since gone hoarse, “it really made me think about me and Wonshik, and about what I really want. And I don’t think he’s it.”

“Zitao,” Baekhyun says patiently, “no one expects you to marry your college boyfriend or whatever. No one expects you to have a college boyfriend.”

“I just keep thinking,” Zitao says, ignoring him. “Remember freshman year? How I felt about Kris?”

Baekhyun sighs. The one upside he’d seen to Zitao dating Wonshik instead of just hooking up with him and moving on like he should have was that it should have meant that Baekhyun had heard the last of this. “Zitao, Kris is straight,” he reminds him, like he had too many times two years before.

“I know that! I don’t mean I’m waiting for _him_ , I mean I’m waiting for someone I feel that way about. And if it’s not Wonshik, even after _months_ , then shouldn’t he be with someone who does love him that way?” Zitao bites his trembling lip. “I still—I love him, even if it’s not the right way. I want him to be…”

“Okay, I get it,” Baekhyun assures him, patting his arm. “You did the right thing.”

“I shouldn’t have ever—when we first, I should’ve just not let it—but he liked me so much, and I wanted…” Zitao swallows, taking deep breaths, and Baekhyun wraps his arms around him again.

“Hey, this isn’t confession,” he says softly. “Try to get some sleep. You can stay here if you want.”

Zitao looks over at the clock and makes a noise of dismay. “I shouldn’t have kept you up, I’m sorry.”

“Part of the big brother contract.” Baekhyun kisses the top of his head. “Plus, this’ll make it up to me. Sleeping with you is like cuddling a furnace.”

“Do you like it as much as cuddling Hyuk?” Zitao asks with a terrible attempt at a laugh, and whines when Baekhyun bites the join of his neck in retaliation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

News of their breakup spreads fast, too. Maybe because of how Zitao and Wonshik both look like death the next morning, or because the fact that Zitao hasn’t updated his Instagram in almost 24 hours is cause enough for alarm.

“See, this is why I don’t date,” Baekhyun says at lunch. “Too much drama.” Kyungsoo snorts, and Baekhyun raises his eyebrows at him. “What?”

“What do you call what you’re doing with the pledge?”

“Which one? They have names, you know.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Sanghyuk.”

“Oh, _Sanghyuk_ ,” Baekhyun says, drawing it out as if the thought’s just dawned on him, and dodges Kyungsoo’s blow. “I’m teaching him the ways of the world.”

“Spending all your time together and having a ton of sex doesn’t always mean you’re dating,” Chanyeol pipes up.

“Exactly,” Baekhyun says with satisfaction. It’s nice to know he can always count on Chanyeol.

“Sometimes it means that soon you’ll _start_ dating,” Chanyeol finishes, then bursts out laughing at Baekhyun’s indignant look.

“And then it probably won’t last because it’s _college_ ,” Baekhyun retorts, because that’s the part he can’t get past. “Tao’s taking it way too seriously.”

“He’s allowed to,” Jongdae says mildly. “And hey, sometimes people who start going out in college stay together. Look at Taekwoon and Hakyeon.”

“Is that a good idea right now?”

Jongdae scoffs. “Please, they’ll make it. Or what about me and Liyin?”

“Flukes,” Baekhyun says. “We’ll see how long you last once we graduate and-”

“We’re getting married after I graduate,” Jongdae says, and Baekhyun falls silent, staring. “I haven’t proposed, but we’ve been talking about it.”

“Seriously?”

“How are you surprised?” Kyungsoo asks. “They’ll have an apartment, she has a job, he’ll get one, and they’ve been together for four years.”

“I like how that’s the last priority for you,” Jongdae remarks.

“It wouldn’t matter how long you’ve been together if you couldn’t afford to get married,” Kyungsoo says with a shrug.

“Plus if he admits that matters then he should start thinking about buying a ring for Jaehwan,” Chanyeol says, laughing, and dodges when Kyungsoo reaches out a hand. “Come on, two years-”

“Fourteen months, the breakups don’t count.”

“You knew that off the top of your head. He counts.”

Baekhyun and Jongdae’s eyes meet as Kyungsoo and Chanyeol’s debate continues. _Congratulations_ , Baekhyun mouths, because for all his teasing if any other couple he knows can make it it’s Jongdae and Liyin, and Jongdae smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk helps Wonshik move his stuff out of the room he’d shared with Zitao, tactfully not noticing every time Wonshik has to blink back tears.

“Thanks again,” Wonshik says again, voice strained, to Hongbin. “For asking Jaebum if he’d switch rooms with me.”

“It’s okay,” Hongbin says quickly. “Jaebum and Zitao are friends, anyway, so it’s okay with everyone.”

‘Okay’ is probably the last word Wonshik wants to hear right now, Sanghyuk thinks, but Wonshik still squeezes Hongbin’s arm.

They’ve just finished settling Wonshik and Hongbin’s room when Baekhyun calls. “Sorry, I have to cancel tonight,” he says. “Tao-”

"I know," Sanghyuk assures him. "I'd ditch you for my little brother, too."

"Tomorrow? I'll make it up to you. We'll..."

"Finish the list?" Sanghyuk finishes for him when he falls silent.

"Yeah." 

"Yeah. And don’t worry about tonight," Sanghyuk says, and means it. Having an extra day before he’s done with the list, with Baekhyun, is an odd sort of relief. "I have plans, anyway."

Half an hour later he's knocking on another door, and Hakyeon answers, eyes widening behind his glasses. "Sanghyuk?"

"Hi," Sanghyuk says, holding up the bag of takeout. "Do you want dinner?"

Hakyeon blinks at him, then grabs him in a hug. "You're my favorite, Hyuk."

"I know," Sanghyuk says fondly, hugging him back with his free arm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What will you do if he gets the job?” Sanghyuk asks as they eat.

“We’ll be okay,” Hakyeon assures him, patting his hand.

“I know that,” Sanghyuk says dismissively. “I mean, are you going to finish school here, or transfer out there, or…” 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere yet,” Hakyeon promises. “I’m going to finish getting my master’s and then I’ll move out there. We talked it over last night.”

Sanghyuk bites his lip. Selfishly, that’s what he’d wanted to hear. For all that he complains whenever Hakyeon is too overbearing, he’s not sure what he’d do if he and Taekwoon _both_ left so suddenly. “And you’ll be okay?”

“Not completely,” Hakyeon admits. “I don’t remember what being here is like without him anymore.” He smiles a little. “It was love at first sight, you know? He came here during rush week, all quiet and hanging back by the door, and it took so long for him to smile but when he did… I just knew. I’ll never forget it.” He sighs, staring off into the distance almost like he’s forgotten Sanghyuk’s even there. “He’s the first person I’ve been in a serious relationship with, my first…” Sanghyuk coughs, not entirely sure he wants to know where this is going, and Hakyeon startles, looking flustered. “Anyway!”

“What about Taekwoon? Did he ever date anyone else?”

“In high school, but not seriously. Same as me. That’s one of the things that’s making this so hard for both of us.” Hakyeon leans forward, regarding him solemnly. "And it’s part of why I was so against this thing you're doing with Baekhyun. I want this for you, Sanghyuk."

"...misery?" Sanghyuk asks after a pause.

"Yes!” Hakyeon says, pointing his fork at him, then pauses as his words catch up with him. “Well, no, not exactly. I mean, I want you to be with someone who _can_ make it feel like the idea of being away from him is the worst thing that could happen to you. And like when you're with him, there's nowhere else you'd rather be." Hakyeon squeezes his hand and Sanghyuk forces a smile, like Hakyeon’s words aren’t striking a little too close to home. "But I want them to feel the same way about you, and Baekhyun's never been serious about anyone. Not even Zitao."

“He loves Zitao,” Sanghyuk says quietly.

“Of course he loves Zitao! I meant romantically.”

“Right.” It’s not that Sanghyuk didn’t know that, and it’s not like he thought he’d be the exception, or that he wants to be. It’s just… his chest kind of hurts, and he doesn’t want to think about why, even though the truth is getting steadily harder to ignore. “Are you done eating? I’ll do the dishes.”

Hakyeon scrutinizes him but plays along. “You’re so nice to me, Hyukkie.”

“Don’t get used to it,” Sanghyuk advises him, but lets Hakyeon kiss his temple and demand another hug before Sanghyuk carries the dishes over to the sink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun hasn’t saved the 69 for last for any particular reason, though Sanghyuk seems to think otherwise.

“I’m going to fall off the bed,” Sanghyuk warns him, eyeing the all too narrow bed doubtfully.

“Come on, you’ll be fine. Don’t you trust me?”

“Or we might both fall,” Sanghyuk continues, and grins when he sees Baekhyun’s mock-indignant look. “Have you at least tried this before? Like, with Tao?”

Baekhyun snorts. “Tao _definitely_ would’ve fallen off the bed.” But he’s not especially in the mood to talk about Zitao, or to think about the last time he was in this bed, so instead he closes the distance between them. “Come on, Hyuk,” he murmurs reassuringly, just before their lips meet. “Trust me.”

Baekhyun’s almost tempted to just keep kissing Sanghyuk for a while. That’s something his pledge— _the_ pledge—has never needed any help with. Maybe he’d learned from high school girlfriends or something. Baekhyun should ask, should maybe send them a fruit basket or something.

But when Sanghyuk starts grinding down against his thigh, Baekhyun decides they’re both more than ready and pulls away. “All right, turn around,” he tells him.

Sanghyuk looks over his shoulder at the expanse of floor beyond him, then past Baekhyun, who’s on the side against the wall. “You planned this, didn’t you?” Sanghyuk asks.

“You’re not going to fall,” Baekhyun says, punctuating it with a quick kiss, before lightly swatting his ass. “And you’ll like this, trust me. Turn around.”

Sanghyuk has to curl in somewhat to make up for the height difference, but it works out. Baekhyun’s always enjoyed how responsive he is, and obviously he likes when it’s Sanghyuk’s turn to suck him off, and experiencing both at once makes him wonder how he could have waited this long to try it. 

Sanghyuk gets sloppy the closer he gets, mouth open and panting, only occasionally licking Baekhyun’s cock. Baekhyun monitors him with satisfaction, and hears Sanghyuk whimper as Baekhyun digs his fingers into the soft flesh of his ass, rubbing restlessly as he sucks harder on Sanghyuk’s cock.

Sure enough, it’s not much longer before Sanghyuk cries out and comes. Baekhyun swallows as much as he can, pulling him in closer, hums contentedly just to hear Sanghyuk groan.

Sanghyuk’s always so sensitive after he comes, and Baekhyun should’ve long since learned better than to keep teasing him afterwards, but as always he can’t resist. This time there’s a new consequence-Sanghyuk rolls off the bed with a thud, taking half the blanket with him. 

“Shit.” Baekhyun sits up to check on Sanghyuk, swiping one hand over the mess on his own chin, just in time to see Sanghyuk sit up and start laughing. He’s red-cheeked and sweaty, eyes curved upwards and nose scrunched. His smile’s contagious as always, and Baekhyun can’t help laughing along with him, or how his heart pounds even harder.

“I _told_ you!” Sanghyuk says, though not with much heat. 

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun ask, offering his hand.

Sanghyuk takes it briefly but doesn’t get up. Instead he shifts onto his knees, shuffling forward a little until he’s in front of Baekhyun. “Let’s do something safer,” he suggests, his hands curving around Baekhyun’s hips and tugging him forward until he’s on the edge of the bed and Sanghyuk can lean up and take in his cock. He’s not going to argue, Baekhyun decides, threading his hands in Sanghyuk’s hair. Improvisation is a key part of the grading rubric, after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"All done," Baekhyun says the next morning, and checks it off with a flourish before handing the paper back to Sanghyuk.

It's a weird feeling, looking at the list and seeing that there's nothing left undone. Knowing that _they’re_ done. Especially since Baekhyun still seems so normal, like being finished with Sanghyuk doesn’t bother him at all. "How did I do?" Sanghyuk asks, forcing a smile.

"I can't tell you yet.”

"Why not?"

Baekhyun grins, reeling him in. "Final exam’s first. Cumulative."

Sanghyuk knows the fierce relief rushing through his veins is a bad sign, but he can’t help it. "What if I need to review a few things first?"

"I guess I can fit in some practice sessions," Baekhyun muses, tapping his chin.

Sanghyuk widens his eyes. "Wow, you're so helpful, Professor Byun!"

"I _really_ like the sound of that," Baekhyun says, and Sanghyuk laughs at him until Baekhyun cuts him off with a kiss, backing him towards the bed.


	5. part five

Baekhyun checks in with Zitao as soon as he gets back after Thanksgiving break. “You look good,” he comments. Better than he’d been expecting, given that Zitao’s Instagram updates during break had mostly consisted of pictures of him peering at the camera sadly from behind his cat, captioned with things like _people say dogs are mans best friend but i think its cats instead. i dont know what id do without jackie♥_. 

If it’s possible for cats to get sainthood, Baekhyun’s pretty sure Jackie Chan is long overdue for a nomination.

( _perfect eyeliner tho_ , Baekhyun had responded to one.

_im sad not DEAD_ , had been Zitao’s immediate retort.)

“I always look good,” Zitao says with a sigh. 

“I don’t know; I’ve seen you hungover.”

Zitao makes a face at him, then sighs again. “I saw Wonshik earlier.”

Oh, shit, Baekhyun thinks, and sits down next to him, resting a hand on his back. “How awkward was it?”

“Really awkward.” Zitao presses his palms against his eyes. He’s not crying yet, but Baekhyun knows the signs. He’s close to it. "I really hurt him."

"You know it was the right thing to-"

"I _know_. But we’re both here, we’re going to see each other all the time, and he looks so sad-”

"I told you not to actually go out with him.” 

“That doesn’t help me now!”

Baekhyun pats his back. "Look. Christmas break's soon, right? Just stick it out until then. It’ll be easier after you get back and have, like, space to process or whatever. Until then just think about something else… like when you plan on visiting me during break."

Zitao blinks. "Me?"

" _Me_?" Baekhyun mimics, and makes a show of looking around. "Is there someone else here I could be talking to?"

Zitao rolls his eyes. "No, but... what about Sanghyuk?"

"What about him?"

"Don't you want to spend time with him?"

Now it's Baekhyun's turn to blink. "…No? Why would I?"

"Because you two are..." Zitao trails off, frowning as he searches Baekhyun’s face, then groans in exasperation. "You're not still doing the friends thing."

"We _are_ friends."

"No, you're not. Don't mess this up, Baekhyun."

"Don't project, Tao."

Zitao sighs loudly. "Your stupidity is making me feel worse. Now I have to worry about how we're _both_ going to die alone."

"We're not going to die alone. We have each other."

"I love you," Zitao mumbles, and leans his head against Baekhyun’s shoulder. "Even if you're stupid."

Baekhyun kisses his temple. "Same. Even if you're the biggest drama queen I've ever met."

"I am not, you know Hakyeon," Zitao objects.

Baekhyun thinks it over. "That one might be too close to call," he says at last, and grins when Zitao pouts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end of the semester is approaching all too fast. Baekhyun and Sanghyuk agree to take another break to study for finals. But that doesn’t mean Baekhyun can’t check in on Sanghyuk once in a while, he decides when he catches sight of Sanghyuk in the living room, and changes directions to go join him.

“How’re you?” he asks, resting his hands on Sanghyuk’s shoulders.

Sanghyuk looks up at him, frowning. “Chemistry’s going to kick my ass.”

“You’ll be fine,” Baekhyun debates, squeezing his shoulders briefly and circling his thumbs hard, the way he knows Sanghyuk likes.

Sure enough, Sanghyuk tips his head forward with a quiet, pleased moan. “Can you do that for, like, an hour?”

Baekhyun leans down to murmur in his ear, not stopping the massage, “What do I get out of it?”

“My undying devotion,” Sanghyuk says promptly.

Baekhyun’s heart kind of skips a beat, even though Sanghyuk looks anything but serious about it. Maybe it’s just a side effect from all the coffee he’s had to drink today. “What if I do it for ten minutes?”

“That’s a risk you’ll have to take,” Sanghyuk says.

Baekhyun remembers telling him the same thing during their bet about the soccer game. It feels like forever ago—no, he’s _not_ turning into Jongdae. “It’s so cute how you remember everything I say.”

“I write it all in my diary every night. Now am I getting a shoulder rub or not?”

Baekhyun snorts. “Bossy,” he says, but sets to work. “The things I do for you.”

By the time the ten minutes are up, Sanghyuk’s so relaxed he’s nearly asleep, making the kind of quiet, contented noises Baekhyun usually only hears on mornings when he kisses Sanghyuk awake. Baekhyun traces his fingertips over Sanghyuk’s forehead, watching his eyes flutter open. “Want to sleep here tonight?” he suggests.

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk replies, nodding, then pauses. “I thought we said…”

“Yeah, but it’s late.” It’s barely past midnight, but still. His roommate could be asleep or something. No point in Sanghyuk disturbing him, right? 

“Okay,” Sanghyuk agrees anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are times when Baekhyun’s awed by his own accomplishments with Sanghyuk this semester.

Take the next day, for instance. Baekhyun’s studying at one of the library corner tables, away from Kappa Tau’s many distractions. This Consumer Behavior chapter isn’t exactly riveting, but he’s focused enough that he honestly doesn’t notice what’s happening until a pair of very familiar hands part his thighs.

His entire body jolts, his flailing legs barely missing Sanghyuk, who grabs them and holds them still. His phone lights up a few seconds later. _ssshh let me work_.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun hisses, one hand pressed against his heart.

Sanghyuk loosens his grip slowly, pats one of Baekhyun’s thighs once it’s clear Baekhyun’s settled down. Then his hands move again, this time quickly undoing Baekhyun’s jeans fastenings and pulling out his cock.

Thinking fast, Baekhyun rests his forehead in his palm, hunching forward over his notebook like he’s studying intently. It’s not the first time he’s hooked up with someone in the library, but it’s the first time it’s gone beyond making out and some groping. And all of Sanghyuk’s own initiative, he thinks with an odd sense of pride, squirming in his seat as Sanghyuk leans in and traces along Baekhyun’s rapidly hardening length with his tongue.

He’s taught Sanghyuk the value of patience and knows they could draw this out if they wanted to, but they don’t have that kind of time, not when there are this many people around. Baekhyun threads his free hand in Sanghyuk’s hair, gives it a light tug in warning, and Sanghyuk obediently takes in as much of Baekhyun’s cock as he can.

Then he moves, head bobbing, and Baekhyun has to muffle groans against the back of his hand. One of Sanghyuk’s hands comes up to cup Baekhyun’s balls, faint vibrations echoing around Baekhyun’s cock like he’s laughing at how it made Baekhyun jump again; the other is tight on Baekhyun’s thigh, but that doesn’t stop Baekhyun from remembering how often Sanghyuk’s ended up jerking himself off as he sucked Baekhyun off. He imagines it now, Sanghyuk struggling to hold it together under the table, and has to bite down on his hand to keep quiet.

Sanghyuk is so good, knows how to tease at the crown and just how tightly Baekhyun likes him to grip everything he can’t fit in his mouth. So observant, and all for Baekhyun. He drops his head down onto his forearm, giving up all pretenses, and tightens his grip on Sanghyuk’s hair. He’s trying to warn him that he’s close, so close, but Sanghyuk moans around his cock, the vibrations intense, and moves faster than ever. Before he knows it, Baekhyun’s coming down Sanghyuk’s throat, biting into his forearm as Sanghyuk swallows. 

Sanghyuk squeezes his thigh one more time, then licks at his softening, sensitive cock, kissing the tip before he tucks it away. Cute, Baekhyun thinks languidly, stroking a quick hand through Sanghyuk’s hair. God, he wants a nap.

His phone lights up again just as he sits up, and he opens it on autopilot. _for yesterday_ , Sanghyuk’s text reads.

Baekhyun pats Sanghyuk’s cheek and feels Sanghyuk kiss his palm before he refastens Baekhyun’s jeans and backs away. This is why Baekhyun tries to be helpful. It really does pay off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun gives it another hour before he packs everything up and heads back to the house for the night. Although he’s starving, he spots the group in the living room and decides to hang out there a while first. He needs a rest before he has to do anything as difficult as fixing ramen, anyway.

Zitao’s sitting at one end of the couch, either dozing or outright asleep. His arms are tight around Jongin’s waist, who’s leaning back against his chest and looking like he’s inches away from falling asleep there, too. They’d be good for each other, Baekhyun thinks absently. In a world where Jongin and Taemin aren’t joined at the soul. Assuming Taemin has a soul.

“Hey, you remember Sehun, right?” Jongin asks Baekhyun abruptly as Baekhyun squeezes in next to Jongdae on the other end of the couch.

Baekhyun sighs fondly, thinking of the last time Sehun had visited Jongin the year before. "Yeah, I remember."

"Question is, do you remember him or do you remember his ass?" Jongdae asks with a laugh.

"Best from last year,” Baekhyun says promptly, pillowing his chin in his hands as he thinks it over. “Maybe. Tossup between him and Jongin. Jongin's is so firm, but Sehun's is so..." He sighs again, laying it on thick just to see Jongin squirm. "You know?"

"No," Chanyeol grouses, "because you kept him to yourself the whole weekend."

Jongin looks pained. “I’ve known him since we were _two_.”

“And thank you for sharing him,” Baekhyun tells him with his brightest smile.

Jongin buries his disgruntled face against Zitao’s shoulder. Zitao, humming sleepily, turns and presses his cheek against the top of Jongin’s head, eyes sliding shut again. “He’s transferring here,” Jongin says, voice muffled. “In January.”

“Now Baekhyun can monopolize him all semester,” Chanyeol says. Baekhyun laughs, too, even though his first thought is that he’ll have to leave space for Korean lessons with Sanghyuk. What would Sanghyuk think of Sehun?

It doesn’t matter, he tells himself, even though maybe it does. “I guess,” he says vaguely, his gaze going to Zitao’s peaceful face as something else occurs to him. “Hey, Jongin, does Sehun still have the same job?”

“At the pet store? Yeah. Why?”

Because the mall where Sehun works is in driving distance from Baekhyun’s house, and Baekhyun knows someone who’ll be visiting him and is a sucker for pretty boys and cute animals. “No reason,” he says innocently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For once Sanghyuk doesn’t spend his evening at the Kappa Tau house. 

“I got the job,” Taekwoon tells them as they’re all gathered around the stacks of pizza boxes in Taekwoon and Hakyeon’s kitchen.

No surprise there—when Sanghyuk had gotten Hakyeon’s text to come by the apartment for a small party for Taekwoon, there hadn’t been much else he could mean.

“Hey, congratulations!” Wonshik says, his eyes darting momentarily to Hakyeon, who’s beaming at Taekwoon. “When do you start?”

“Next month.”

“He’ll be staying with Seungho at first,” Hakyeon adds. “I’m going to fly out for a visit after Christmas and we’ll find a place then.”

“What about here?” Sanghyuk asks, reaching across Kyungsoo for another slice of pizza. “Are you keeping this apartment?” He can’t imagine it, not as emotional as Hakyeon gets. He can just see Hakyeon remembering the first time he and Taekwoon ever had a conversation in the hallway or something and calling up Sanghyuk to demand his company for the evening.

“No,” Hakyeon says, his smile dimming for a few seconds, until Minhyuk squeezes his hand.

“No, because I’m the best best friend ever, and I have a spare room,” Minhyuk adds.

“That’s right!” Hakyeon says, brightening. “We’ll be roommates again!” 

Sanghyuk has only met Minhyuk a few times, but it sounds like that’ll be the best option for Hakyeon. Minhyuk will take care of him. The thought makes Sanghyuk feel a little better about the whole thing.

“And you’ll move out there in June?” Hongbin asks. He starts to reach for the pizza, but Wonshik beats him to it and hands him a piece instead. Sanghyuk can’t read the look Hongbin gives Wonshik as he takes it. 

“Yeah, as soon as I get my degree.” Hakyeon rests his head against Taekwoon’s shoulder, smiling a little as Taekwoon nudges one of the pizza boxes toward him, then again, until Hakyeon takes a slice. “Everything will work out.”

“And until then we’re stuck with you,” Wonshik teases.

“Hey, you should be grateful,” Hakyeon retorts. “Like you’d be able to handle anything if I just left you.”

“We are,” Chanyeol promises, and slips in between Hakyeon and Minhyuk so that he can wrap an arm around Hakyeon, careful to avoid touching Taekwoon. Hakyeon smiles up at him. “We’d miss you if you left.”

“And when you do leave, we can always visit!” Jaehwan adds. “Spring break in Malibu!”

“Yes!” Hakyeon agrees, at the same time Taekwoon firmly says, “ _No_.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

For everything they’ve said and agreed to, Sanghyuk still ends up spending almost every night in Baekhyun’s bed before and during finals. Not that that means they don’t do their best to make up for all the lost hookup time during the last few nights before winter break, of course. 

Then, before they know it, the semester’s over and they’re both leaving the next day. This really is it, no matter how much Sanghyuk wishes otherwise. He wonders what Baekhyun wants, and kisses him to prevent himself from slipping up and asking, then again just because he can, at least for now.

“If you want to go again you’ll have to be quieter this time,” Baekhyun murmurs between lazy kisses, one hand stroking the back of Sanghyuk’s neck. “I don’t want Kyungsoo to murder me right before Christmas.”

“I’m not the one who’s a screamer,” Sanghyuk says mildly.

“That was _one time_.”

“Per hour, maybe.” Sanghyuk laughs a little. “You were so quiet on my birthday. Was I really that bad?”

“You had potential,” Baekhyun says. “I saw great things in you.” He pauses, eyeing Sanghyuk expectantly.

“Like your dick?” Sanghyuk asks patiently, and Baekhyun laughs until he adds, “Well, that’s more like a _pretty good_ thing, I guess-”

“See if I ever let you near it again.” 

“That would punish you more than me,” Sanghyuk returns without missing a beat, though as he feels Baekhyun’s body tense against his he abruptly remembers that after this he _won’t_ have Baekhyun like this again, like they’ve agreed.

There’s a pause, one that gets more awkward by the second. Sanghyuk wants to say something, anything, but before he can Baekhyun’s fingers tighten on his hip and he says, casual as ever, “You know, this doesn’t really have to be the end.”

Sanghyuk startles. “Really?”

“It’s not like _I’m_ leaving. We’ll still see each other all the time. We’re still friends. We can even hook up once in a while, right?”

Once in a while. _Friends_. It hurts more than he’d expected. “Right,” Sanghyuk says after a beat. “We can.”

“Plus, I have to make sure you remember everything I taught you,” Baekhyun says lightly.

“And see what else I’ve learned,” Sanghyuk says, his voice a little sharper than intended.

“Right,” Baekhyun says, turning so that his face is pressed into the crook of Sanghyuk’s neck. “All that potential…”

It’s not long before Baekhyun dozes off, but Sanghyuk lies awake for a long while. He’s going to have to get used to sleeping in his own bed all the time. To falling asleep to the sound of Sungjae’s light snoring every night, not to Baekhyun’s whimpers. 

But he doesn’t _want_ to, he thinks suddenly, his grip on Baekhyun tightening. He wants… he wants Baekhyun. Maybe—no, he definitely always has. It’s time to stop pretending otherwise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He means to talk to Baekhyun about it the next morning, he really does, but it’s hard to even think when Baekhyun wakes him up with a blowjob, already two fingers deep in him before Sanghyuk even has his eyes open properly; and it’s not the kind of thing to bring up when they’re rushing through the shower to make up for the time lost, hurrying enough that Baekhyun’s only able to soap Sanghyuk up one extra time before they have to finish. Sanghyuk grabs a bottled water from the fridge, not letting himself wonder why Baekhyun’s still on his heels, and says quick goodbyes to the few people who are downstairs this early, then heads for the door.

Baekhyun hands him his coat, watches Sanghyuk slip it on. “I think it’s supposed to snow, so—be careful.”

“Yeah, you, too.” He hesitates, not sure what to say when there’s so much he _can’t_ say, and finally shrugs. They can talk about everything when they get back. “Have a good break, Baekhyun.”

“You, too.” Baekhyun tugs him down for another kiss, then a few more, and squeezes his ass one last time as Sanghyuk walks out the door. Sanghyuk can’t help laughing, and smiles quickly over his shoulder at Baekhyun. Yeah, they can talk later. Maybe by the time he gets back in January he’ll know what to say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“He’s cute,” Jongdae says as soon as Baekhyun shuts the front door again, startling Baekhyun. He hadn’t even known his best friend was awake. “You both are.”

“I’m _adorable_ ,” Baekhyun corrects him flippantly, one hand rubbing absently at his chest. It’s been feeling strange all morning.

For once Jongdae doesn’t fall in with his banter. “You’re allowed to like him, you know,” he says instead.

“Of course I like him,” Baekhyun says, frowning. “What’s not to like?”

“Fine. You’re allowed to love him.”

These chest pangs are getting out of hand, Baekhyun thinks, stubborn to the end, though he’s starting to realize what they might mean. “I’m not…”

“I know you have this thing about dating in college, but it can work out,” Jongdae says. “Even for you.”

“Yeah, dating someone during my last semester sounds like a really good idea. And then I’ll graduate and he’ll still have another three years, and I’ll have a job to-”

“That’s what it was like for me and Liyin, and we made it,” Jongdae points out. “It was hard, but it was worth it. Are you still thinking about staying around here after we graduate?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Then you’d still be able to see him. So what’s the problem?”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “What about what he wants?” he asks at last.

Jongdae scoffs. “Please. We’re talking about the same Sanghyuk, right?”

And for once Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hongbin doesn’t have a car yet, so he’s waiting in Sanghyuk’s room so they can ride back together.

Sungjae’s there, too, packing his own stuff. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and drive you and Donggeun to the airport?” Sanghyuk asks him.

“No way!” Sungjae assures him. “Go home, beat the snow. We’re getting a ride from Ilhoon.”

“Okay,” Sanghyuk agrees, and Sungjae bounds over and wraps him up in an enthusiastic hug.

“See you in January!”

Sanghyuk pats his back. “Yeah, have a good break.”

“Oh, I _will_ ,” Sungjae says, and now Sanghyuk’s glad for the hug, since he doesn’t have to see the wide grin no doubt stretched across Sungjae’s face. “You, too, Hongbin!”

“Yeah, you too,” Hongbin says quickly.

Sanghyuk frees himself from Sungjae’s hold and grabs his bags, then sets off, Hongbin leading the way. Jones Hall is crowded and noisy with all the other guys packing or leaving or roaming around, trading notes on finals or vacation plans, so Sanghyuk and Hongbin can’t really talk until they’re trudging toward the parking lot, shivering in the bitter winter wind.

“How did your finals go?” Sanghyuk asks him.

“Fine, I guess.” Hongbin shrugs. “I won’t find out for a few weeks.”

“Yeah, same with me. What about the photography project?” He’s barely seen Hongbin during the past few weeks, except occasionally at the Kappa Tau house, because of it. Hongbin always throws himself into those so much that he forgets to leave time for the rest of his life. Sanghyuk had expected to be the one to keep him connected to the outside world this semester, but to his shock he realizes that he hadn’t even thought about it, too distracted by his own studies and by Baekhyun. Hopefully someone else took care of him instead. Probably Wonshik. He’s good about that.

“I think it went well.” Hongbin bites his lip. “There were a few pictures I wanted to get, but they didn’t turn out right.”

“I bet it’s still great.”

“You can see it, if you want. They’ll all be in the show in February.”

“I’ll be there,” Sanghyuk promises, and Hongbin grins, dimples flashing. Impulsively Sanghyuk adds, “Hey we should hang out over break. It’s been…” How long has it been? Come to think of it, between school, Kappa Tau, and Baekhyun, Sanghyuk hasn’t spent much time with Hongbin this semester at all. “A while,” he finally finishes.

“Yeah, we should,” Hongbin agrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even when he gets home, Baekhyun can’t stop thinking about Sanghyuk, imagining the snarky remarks he’d make or what would make him smile. His parents would love Sanghyuk, he catches himself thinking. The idea doesn’t even make him feel panicked and overwhelmed the way it did when Jonghyun had asked to meet them back in freshman year, just before Baekhyun had ended things with him.

“I’ve made a list of everyone we’ll invite to your graduation,” his mother says at dinner. “Is there anyone else you want us to add?”

Baekhyun nods. “I’m going to invite Kris.” He needs to talk Kris into driving down to Cartwright for a visit soon, he thinks, although maybe not until Zitao’s doing better. Hopefully Zitao doesn’t decide to go see him over break, or if he does hopefully Kris will know better than to wear those leather pants around him. 

“Good, it will be nice to see him again.”

In spite of himself, Baekhyun’s thoughts go to Sanghyuk. Kris would like him, too, he’s sure of that…

“Anyone else?” his mother asks.

_Not as long as Sanghyuk is there_ , his brain supplies, and while he's still not sure what to do about it he can’t try to deny it anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn’t snow, after all, so Sangmi is able to drive up for the evening. Her semester ended a few days before Sanghyuk’s, but she has a part-time job and has mentioned a few ongoing projects that she has to work on before she graduates in May, so Sanghyuk isn’t sure how often he’ll be able to see her or her fiancé during the break. Rob doesn’t come with her— _business trip_ , she explains—but the rest of them have plenty to talk about, between the upcoming wedding and everyone’s plans for break and how the semester had gone for both Sangmi and Sanghyuk (the extremely edited version, in Sanghyuk’s case).

“So, you never told me,” Sangmi says when Sanghyuk braves the cold to join her on the back porch as she smokes after dinner. “How did it go with the guy?”

Sanghyuk startles. “What guy?”

“Please. The kind of clothes you bought back in August? There’s definitely a guy.”

Sanghyuk feels his face heat up. Sangmi’s always known him too well. And this time Hongbin’s not even here to take the attention off him. “You didn’t say anything.”

“I was biding my time. So? Does he have a name?”

“Yeah. And—I don’t know how things are going.”

“Why not? That doesn’t sound like you.”

“It’s… complicated.”

Sangmi snorts. “That doesn’t sound like you, either. Uncomplicate it.”

“Is that what you did with Rob?”

“Yep, and look at us now.” She wiggles her other hand, the diamond of her engagement ring catching the porch light. “And you need a date for the wedding. Now’s the time.”

“That’ll thrill the rest of the family.” As far as he knows, his parents and Sangmi are still the only ones that know that he’s gay. His parents had taken it okay when he’d told them, flanked by Sangmi and Hongbin. He’d known they would. They don’t really talk about it, though. Once in a while he wonders if him actually dating someone would help them become more comfortable with it, a thought that now automatically makes him wonder how Baekhyun’s parents would react. Baekhyun had mentioned before that they know that he’s into guys as well as girls, but since as far as Sanghyuk knows Baekhyun’s never really dated anyone seriously, maybe his parents are still expecting that when he does it’ll be a girlfriend that he’ll bring home to meet them. 

“Sanghyuk,” Sangmi says, snapping him out of his reverie, “I don’t care about any of that, and neither do you. All I care about is you being happy.” She exhales a stream of smoke, then pats his cheek. “Listen to your sister.”

“I will, I will.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanghyuk makes it approximately two more days at home, half-listening to his parents’ inquiries about school and thinking about Baekhyun every minute, before deciding that waiting around until January is stupid. 

_whats baekhyuns address_ , he texts Jongdae.

Jongdae‘s response is almost immediate. _thank god hes PINING_

Sanghyuk can’t picture Baekhyun pining for anyone. Then again, last summer he wouldn’t have been able to picture getting involved with Baekhyun, either. _address?_ he texts, because he’s not touching that, and Jongdae relays it within seconds.

As soon as Sanghyuk types it into his phone's GPS, he notices Jongdae’s sent another text. _drive safely! and thanks ur good for him_

Yeah, he definitely never would have been able to imagine any of this. _thnx_ , he sends, then starts the truck.

The Byuns live in an upper middle class neighborhood, in a two-story brick house with what’s probably really nice landscaping when it’s not mid-December and covered in remnants of yesterday's snowfall. The driveway is empty when Sanghyuk arrives, making him second-guess his decision to drive up unannounced, but Baekhyun opens the door shortly after he knocks. 

Baekhyun’s whole body startles. Sanghyuk had worried about what he’d think about this, but Baekhyun reaches out with one hand, skimming along Sanghyuk’s sleeve before he lets it drop. “Hyuk?” 

Don’t blow it, Sanghyuk tells himself. He has to get this right, for both of them. “There’s something I want,” he begins.

“There’s always one more thing with you,” Baekhyun says, but his heart isn’t in it, and the almost hopeful look in his eyes gives Sanghyuk the courage he needs.

“When we’re back at school after break, I want us to actually be together.” He keeps his eyes on Baekhyun and sees him startle again, smaller this time, his hand tightening on the doorknob. His other arm’s wrapped around his torso, a feeble effort at conserving warmth given all he’s wearing is sweatpants and a threadbare white shirt. It’s strange to think about how small Baekhyun really is. “And you do, too.”

“Oh yeah?” Baekhyun’s trying to look expressionless, he can tell, but Sanghyuk can see him biting at his lower lip, and the way his knuckles are turning white. Like he knows how he wants to respond, maybe, but is waiting for more.

Lessons are over. Baekhyun’s not going to give him any hints on this one. “Jongdae said you miss me.”

“Is nothing sacred?”

“With _our_ friends?”

Baekhyun nods like he’s acknowledging the point, then adds, “Who says I don’t just miss the sex?”

The fact that he hasn’t let Sanghyuk down easily yet, the fact that he didn’t laugh at the very idea of being in a relationship, the fact that even though his gaze keeps darting to Sanghyuk’s mouth he hasn’t dragged him inside and done his best to make him forget that this conversation ever happened. “Is that it?” Sanghyuk asks anyway, watching him carefully. “You don’t want anything more from me?”

Baekhyun makes a noise low in his throat and pulls Sanghyuk forward by his jacket, kissing him. It’s Baekhyun’s house but Sanghyuk’s the one who feels like he’s come home. “Make your case inside,” Baekhyun advises him, shivering as one of Sanghyuk’s chilled hands comes to rest at his side. “It’s freezing out here.”

“You sound like Hakyeon,” Sanghyuk says, but obeys. The house is _warm_ , he thinks with relief as he steps out of his shoes and takes a quick look around the foyer while Baekhyun closes the door. Not that he really notices much other than that it’s scrupulously clean, minus the sneakers he recognizes as Baekhyun’s discarded near the stairs, and smells like the same kind of potpourri one of his aunts uses.

But the thing he notices most is the fondness in Baekhyun’s eyes even as he raises his eyebrows at Sanghyuk in feigned disapproval. “It’s always sass, sass, sass with you.”

“Yeah, and you love it,” Sanghyuk says, grinning at him.

“I really do,” Baekhyun agrees, reaching for Sanghyuk again as he backs him against the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun’s bed at home is queen-sized, giving them both more than enough room to spread out. Even so, Baekhyun is wrapped around Sanghyuk like usual, all wandering hands and soft, kiss-swollen lips and constantly nipping teeth. 

“I should’ve known this would happen,” Baekhyun says, eyeing a blooming red mark on Sanghyuk’s collarbone approvingly. “I did set the bar too high for you, didn’t I?” 

He’d been half-expecting the question, so the answer is easy enough. “Not as high as I set it for you.”

Baekhyun grins down at him. “Don’t get cocky,” he chides, humming in satisfaction when Sanghyuk cups his hands around his ass and pulls him down so that they can start to grind against each other, conversation abandoned until Sanghyuk starts and pulls away, ignoring Baekhyun’s protests. 

“Will your parents be back soon? If they see my truck-”

“Not until tonight,” Baekhyun assures him. “And don’t worry about it. You can meet them if you want. One condition, though.”

He sounds so casual, even though this is anything but. Sanghyuk swallows. “What?”

“That I get to visit you, too,” Baekhyun says promptly. “If you get to see where I live, I get to see your stoplight.”

Sanghyuk snorts. “You’re way too hung up on that.”

“ _One stoplight_.”

“Okay, sometime, just-” Baekhyun stops laughing abruptly when Sanghyuk wraps his hand around his cock, jerking him back to full hardness with minimal effort.

Not that that gets Baekhyun to be quiet entirely. “And I’ve been thinking we should—make another list.” Sanghyuk leans up, nipping his way along Baekhyun’s neck and listening with satisfaction as he whimpers. “There are still-”

“ _Later_ ,” Sanghyuk tells him, the anticipation already thrumming in his bones. Sanghyuk wants it, all of it, lists and lessons and everything Baekhyun can give him, but right now just knowing he can have it is enough.


End file.
